Filings allege Meta hid causal proof of social media harm

Meta shut down internal research into the mental health effects of Facebook and Instagram after finding causal evidence that its products harmed users' mental health, according to unredacted filings in a class action by U.S. school districts against Meta and other social media platforms.

- Reuters

In a 2020 research project code-named “Project Mercury,” Meta scientists worked with Nielsen to gauge the effect of “deactivating” Facebook and Instagram, according to Meta documents obtained via discovery. To the company’s disappointment, “people who stopped using Facebook fora week reported lower feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness and social comparison,” internal documents said.