According to court documents, Meta found a causal relationship between its platforms Facebook and Instagram and users’ mental health impairment in a study, but did not publicly disclose the relevant research results.
The lawsuit documents filed by the US school district against Meta and other social media platforms show that Meta halted its internal research after discovering causal evidence that its platform Facebook harmed users’ mental health.
Based on these uncensored documents obtained through investigation, Meta researchers collaborated with research firm Nielsen to evaluate the impact of discontinuing Facebook in a research project codenamed “Mercury Project” in 2020. The results showed that users who stopped using Facebook for a week reported a reduction in their depression, anxiety, loneliness, and social comparison psychology.
Meta did not publicly disclose the research results or conduct further research, but terminated subsequent work and claimed internally that media coverage surrounding the company had affected the accuracy of the research.
However, Meta researchers privately say that the research results are credible. A researcher compared the concealment of this research result to the tobacco industry’s secret disclosure of the harmful effects of cigarettes through research.
Meta spokesperson Stone stated in a statement on Saturday (November 22) that the company halted this study due to methodological flaws.
He emphasized that Meta has been working hard to improve product safety. A complete record will prove that we have been listening to parents’ opinions, conducting research on key issues, and taking multiple measures to protect teenagers for over a decade
This lawsuit was initiated by school districts across the United States against Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat. The plaintiff claims that these companies deliberately concealed the known risks of their products.
The lawsuit documents point out that these companies tacitly allow children under the age of 13 to use their platforms, fail to address the issue of the spread of child sexual abuse content, and attempt to make social media products more widely used by school aged teenagers. These companies are also accused of attempting to bribe organizations that focus on children to publicly defend the safety of their products.
The Northern District Court of California will hold a hearing on this case on January 26th next year.
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