ND's Spirit Lake Nation files suit against several social media companies

(Bismarck, ND) -- North Dakota Tribes are filing a complaint against four social media companies in California state court.

The Spirit Lake Nation is suing Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, and Alphabet for "predatory business practices" that have negatively impacted youth across the U.S. The nation is joined by the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. Both tribal nations accuse the social media companies of intentionally exploiting children and teens by making addictive products.  

The tribes say they are seeking reimbursements claim are caused by the addictive social media platforms, and are urging for the funding of "prevention, education and treatment for excessive and problematic use of social media," according to a court filing in California. 

“Given historic teen suicide and mental health issues on our Reservation and across Indian Country, Native youth are particularly vulnerable to the negative long-term effects resulting from the intentional, profit-driven design choices being made by these social media platforms,” Spirit
Lake Nation Chair Lonna Jackson-Street said in the Tuesday statement acquired by the North Dakota Monitor.

You can read more about the lawsuit by clicking here.