Meta has been accused of withholding a study that found its platform was dangerous to users’ mental health, according to a Reuters report. The study documents are among those filed in a class-action lawsuit filed by law firm Motley Rice on behalf of several school districts in the United States, alleging that Meta’s platform was dangerous to young users.
In 2020, scientists at Meta began a Project Mercury study in collaboration with the firm Nielsen to look at the impact on mental health of deactivating their social media accounts. The study found that users who stopped using Facebook for a week reported lower levels of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Due to these negative reports, Meta stopped the study because it was tainted by the “existing media narrative” about the company.
Other documents filed by the prosecution also allege that Meta’s safety systems for young users were intentionally ineffective because they were impacting user growth. In addition, Meta’s safety systems were also alleged to only delete accounts that engaged in sex trafficking 17 times.
Another allegation is that Meta is increasing its product optimizations to make it more visible to teens, even though it exposes them to more harmful content.
Meta representatives deny all of these allegations, saying the lawsuits misrepresent the safety efforts it has built for teens and guardians and insisting its current security systems are broadly effective.
The report could serve as a catalyst for more countries to impose restrictions on underage users from accessing social media platforms. Australia will block users under 16 from December 10, while Malaysia will block registrations for users under 16 from January 1, 2026.
