Facebook parent Meta Platforms discontinued internal research that showed people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to a legal filing in a lawsuit against the company and other social media firms.
The study, called Project Mercury, was allegedly initiated in 2019 to help the company understand the effect of its platforms on well-being, social interactions and other social factors, the filing said.
It was based on a random sample of consumers who stopped their use of Facebook and Instagram for a month, according to the filing.
Internal research
It claimed Meta was disappointed that initial results from the study showed people who stopped using Facebook “for a week reported lower feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and social comparison”.
Rather than sounding the alarm, Meta instead halted the research and later testified before Congress that it had no way of quantifying whether its products were harmful to teenage girls, the filing said.
The filing cited an unnamed Meta employee who allegedly worried that failing to publish the findings would be like tobacco companies “doing research and knowing cigs were bad and then keeping that info to themselves”.
The multi-district lawsuit targets social media platforms such as those from Meta, Google’s YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok, claiming the companies were aware of harms to young people but covered up the information in order to prioritise growth, while misleading educators and authorities.
Social media concerns
Meta said it “strongly” disagreed with the allegations in the filing, saying the 2019 study relied on flawed methodology and this was why it was discontinued.
It argued that its safety work was broadly effective.
Google said YouTube is not a social network, and the lawsuits “fundamentally misunderstand” how the platform works.
