Meta is once again embroiled in controversy over hidden research data.Reuters News ReportIn a class-action lawsuit filed by multiple school districts in the United States against the large social media company, an unedited court document alleges that Meta concealed research findings that showed users could alleviate feelings of depression, anxiety, and loneliness by stopping Facebook use, and even deliberately suspended related internal investigation programs.
The lawsuit accuses the tech giant of knowingly concealing the health risks posed by its platforms from users.
Project Mercury has been confirmed to have negative impacts and is suspected of being deliberately canceled.
The research project, codenamed "Project Mercury," began in 2020 and was conducted by Meta scientists in collaboration with the research firm Nielsen to investigate the specific impact on users after "stopping" Facebook.
The lawsuit alleges that when research data showed that "leaving Facebook has mental health benefits," Meta not only shut down the research project but also chose not to publish the results and even labeled the findings as biased and contaminated by "existing media narratives."
However, internal documents reveal differing opinions among Meta employees. Researchers explicitly stated, "Nielsen's research does show the causal effect of Facebook on social comparisons." Even more startlingly, one employee likened this situation to past practices in the tobacco industry—"like conducting research that finds cigarettes are harmful and then hoarding that information."
This is reminiscent of the history that energy giants like Shell and Exxon discovered the link between fossil fuels and climate change in the 1980s, but chose to conceal it.
Meta retaliates: Quotations taken out of context
In response to the allegations, a Meta spokesperson issued a statement to Reuters, saying, "The full record shows that for over a decade we have listened to parents, researched key issues, and made substantial changes to protect teenagers (such as Instagram teen accounts)." Meta emphasized, "We strongly disagree with these allegations, which rely on taken-out quotes and erroneous viewpoints."
Meta is currently seeking to have the court remove the underlying documents supporting these allegations, arguing that the scope of the plaintiffs' requests for declassification is too broad. A hearing is scheduled for January 26, 2026, in the Northern District of California.
A global wave of "bans on social media featuring minors" has emerged.
This is not the first time Meta has been accused of concealing harmful research. For example, in 2023, 41 states sued Meta on similar issues, and the judge ruled that Meta's lawyers had attempted to block internal research that showed its platform was harmful to teenagers.
As concerns intensify, countries around the world are taking more aggressive measures. Malaysia recently announced it would join Denmark and Australia in planning legislation to ban minors from using social media, indicating that regulators' trust in tech giants is plummeting.
