Meta allegedly suspended internal research into the mental health effects of its products after it showed that people who stopped using Facebook experienced less depression, anxiety and loneliness. This comes from unredacted court filings in a lawsuit filed by multiple US school districts against major social media companies, as reported by Reuters. The suit alleges that these companies had knowledge of the health risks posed by these platforms but intentionally hid this from users.
Meta started the research project, dubbed "Project Mercury," in 2020. The company's scientists worked with survey firm Nielsen to investigate what effect, if any, "deactivating" Facebook had on its users. The suit alleges that when this research showed mental health benefits to quitting Facebook, Meta shut down the project, chose not to publish the results and decreed the findings tainted by “existing media narrative” surrounding the company.
According to Reuters, the filings also showed internal research staffers clearly expressing that the findings had merit, writing “the Nielsen study does show causal impact on social comparison.” Another compared the findings to the tobacco industry “doing research and knowing cigs were bad and then keeping that info to themselves.” The allegations call to mind the now well-known decisions by Shell and Exxon to bury internal research connecting fossil fuels with catastrophic climate change as far back as the 1980s.
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In a statement obtained by Reuters, a Meta spokesperson said, “the full record will show that for over a decade, we have listened to parents, researched issues that matter most, and made real changes to protect teens." The statement touted the company's Instagram Teen Accounts and said, "We strongly disagree with these allegations, which rely on cherry-picked quotes and misinformed opinions.”
Meta is arguing to strike the documents underlying these allegations, which are not yet public, claiming the nature of what plaintiffs want to unseal is overly broad. These lawsuits, filed by hundreds of school districts, are being consolidated and handled in the Northern District of California , with a hearing regarding this particular filing set for January 26.
This isn't even the first time the company has been accused of burying research that yielded inconvenient results. In 2023 Meta also faced a massive lawsuit from 41 states as well as the District of Columbia over allegations that its platforms harm and addict young users. A judge in that case ruled that Meta's lawyers tried blocking internal research showing its social media platforms were harmful to teen mental health.