Meta halted research showing Facebook and Instagram harm youth mental health
Court documents in a class action lawsuit allege that Meta halted internal research showing Facebook and Instagram harm mental health, including depression and anxiety, and told Congress it could not determine whether its products harmed minor girls despite internal evidence of harm.
What happened
Court documents in a class action lawsuit filed by U.S. school districts against Meta and other social media platforms revealed that Meta halted internal research showing negative effects of Facebook and Instagram on user mental health.
Meta scientists conducted a 2020 research project called 'Project Mercury' to measure the impact of disabling Facebook and Instagram. The research showed that when people stopped using Facebook for a week, they experienced decreased feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and social comparison.
Instead of publishing these results or pursuing further research, Meta cancelled additional work and internally stated that the negative study findings were mixed with 'an existing media narrative' about the company.
Reported impact
The lawsuit alleges that despite Meta's own research documenting a causal relationship between its products and negative effects on mental health, Meta told Congress it could not determine whether its products harmed minor girls.
Meta employees, including those reporting to Nick Clegg, then Meta's global policy head, confirmed the research conclusions were valid. One employee expressed concern that suppressing the negative results was similar to tobacco companies that research harms but withhold the information.
Index analysis
The allegations are part of a broader lawsuit filed by law firm Motley Rice on behalf of school districts, which also accuses Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat of intentionally hiding internally recognized dangers to users and parents, implicitly encouraging children under 13 to use their platforms, failing to address child sexual abuse material, and attempting to pay organizations focused on children to defend the safety of their products.
Governance controls
Meta's internal suppression of research findings and the discrepancy between its internal knowledge and public statements to Congress suggest failures in transparency and accountability mechanisms.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
This record was researched and written by the Index from original reporting. Its sources are still being verified by an editor, and they are listed here once that check is complete. Until then the record carries no reviewer.