Meta Accused of Hiding Research Showing Social Media Hurts Mental Health

There’s a new wave of controversy around Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp’s parent company), and it’s all centered on one thing: mental health.

A recently filed class-action lawsuit claims Meta knew their platforms were harming users, especially young people, and allegedly chose to bury that information instead of making it public.

Where did all this come from?

According to the lawsuit, filed by multiple U.S. school districts against Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat, Meta ran a major internal study called Project Mercury. They worked with Nielsen to find out what would happen if people simply stopped using Facebook and Instagram for a week.

The results? People reported feeling less depressed, less anxious, less lonely, and less caught up in comparing themselves to everyone else online.

But here’s the wild part: Meta didn’t publish the results. Instead, the project was suddenly shut down.

Why hide it? Meta hurts mental health?

Internal documents show that Meta claimed the results were “tainted” by negative media coverage. But behind closed doors? Some staff told leadership, including Nick Clegg, Meta’s former head of global public policy, that the findings were actually legit.

One employee even compared hiding the research to the tobacco industry, knowing cigarettes were dangerous but keeping it a secret. Yeah… that’s not a small comparison.

But didn’t Meta tell Congress something different?

Yep. Meta told Congress they couldn’t quantify whether their platforms harmed teen girls. But the lawsuit argues they already had evidence pointing to a causal link between Facebook/Instagram and negative mental health effects.

Meta’s spokesperson, Andy Stone, pushed back, saying the research was flawed and the company has spent years improving teen safety.

This lawsuit goes beyond just mental health

The filing lists other major accusations against Meta and other platforms, including:

• Encouraging kids under 13 to secretly use their apps

• Not doing enough to address child exploitation content

• Increasing their push for teens to use social platforms in schools

• Trying to pay youth-focused organizations to publicly back their safety claims

Meta denies these accusations completely, calling them “cherry-picked” and misinformed.

A court hearing is set for January 26th, so this story is far from over.

Why this matters for us

If you’re part of Gen Z or Gen Y, you grew up online. Social media is basically woven into your everyday life, your friendships, your creative expression, and your career opportunities.

But the platforms shaping your day-to-day experience may not always be transparent about the impact they have on your mental health.

This story isn’t about deleting your accounts or running away from the digital world. It’s about asking:

• Are these platforms being honest?

• Who’s protecting users, especially teens?

• And what should accountability look like in 2025 and beyond?

• Meta hurting mental health?

More updates coming as this unfolds.