Many recent studies have brought issues to light regarding social media’s negative effects on mental health. According to the research, younger people in particular are particularly susceptible to these harmful influences. Social media magnates seem keen on keeping this data under wraps, however. According to Reuters, a 2020 study named “Project Mercury” is a perfect example. It determined that people who took a break from Facebook and Instagram had lower levels of anxiety, depression, peer comparison, and loneliness. Recently, a U.S. court claimed that Meta chose not to publish these findings. Furthermore, it would appear that Meta also neglected to disclose potential risks of social media use for underage users.
What did Project Mercury Entail?
In this research project, scientists from META.O worked closely with the Nielsen survey firm. Their goal was to determine the effects of stepping away from Instagram and Facebook temporarily. According to documents, those who stopped using these platforms for a week showed marked improvement on their mental health.
At this point, Meta cancelled further work on the project. The explanation was that the study’s negative findings were “tainted by the existing media narrative around the company.”
According to Nick Clegg, the head of global public policy at Meta at the time, the conclusions of this research were completely valid. Furthermore, another staff member expressed guilt about keeping the findings quiet. They said that keeping mum on the negative conclusions would be like people in the tobacco industry “doing research and knowing cigarettes were bad and then keeping that info to themselves.”
Andy Stone, current spokesman for Meta, released a statement this past Saturday. In it, he stated that the study’s methodology was flawed, hence why it was stopped. He insisted that Meta has always been diligent to ensure its products’ safety, especially when it comes to protecting teens.
This is in stark contrast to details in the suit that imply Meta quashed internal efforts to stop child predators from contacting minors.
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Lawsuit Alleges that Meta Hid Internally Recognized Risks
Motley Rice, a plaintiffs’ litigation firm based in South Carolina, is currently suing Meta, TikTok, Snapchat SNAP.N, and GOOGL.O on behalf of a number of USA school districts. The allegation is that these companies knew that using their products carried certain risks — particularly towards underage users — and hid those risks intentionally.
Court documents show that Mark Zuckerberg sent a text message in 2021 about this very topic. In it, he stated that keeping underage users safe wasn’t a top priority “when I have a number of other areas I’m more focused on like building the metaverse.”
This perspective is contradicted by allegations by the plaintiffs. These claim that Meta required its users to be caught attempting to traffic people for sex 17 times before they’d be banned. Additional allegations include encouragement of children under 13 to use these platforms, and failure to address content featuring child sexual abuse. There was also the implication that these platforms aimed to entice teenagers to engage with them during school hours.
The hearing about this filing will commence on January 26th, at the Northern California District Court.
Via Reuters, MSN, CTV News, The Japan Times, and The International News
Featured image by by Julio Lopez , via Unsplash