The federally recognized White Mountain Apache Tribe, located in the east central region of Arizona, alleges in its 105-page Tuesday complaint that social media has contributed significantly to a mental health crisis now facing its own tribal members as well as young Indigenous people worldwide.
Law360 (January 8, 2025, 5:35 PM EST) -- An Apache tribe has hit all the social media giants with a suit in California federal court claiming the companies' platforms are designed to addict young people but have a particularly bad effect on Native American youth, who already face a high risk of depression, addiction and suicide.
"The tribe brings this lawsuit after numerous shocking revelations by whistle blowers within the social media industry: that social media companies designed their products to be addictive, and that the products have contributed to a growing mental health crisis among children and adolescents," the suit says.
Named as defendants are social media companies Alphabet Inc., ByteDance Inc., ByteDance Ltd., Facebook Operations LLC, Facebook Payments Inc., Google LLC, Instagram LLC, Meta Platforms Inc., Siculus Inc., Snap Inc., TikTok Inc. and related TikTok companies, and YouTube LLC.
White Mountain Apache accuses the companies of pursuing for years an aggressive growth strategy "that put profits above all else" and has maximized user engagement specifically to sell targeted advertisements at the expense of children's brain development and their susceptibility to mental health problems.
The suit cites a scientific report published in August 2023 by the American Psychological Association about why apps like TikTok and Meta's Instagram have an adverse effect on children's brains that's different from the impact on adult brains and an advisory issued in May 2023 by the U.S. Surgeon General warning about social media's effects on youth mental health, among other reports. Read more.