The company hid findings that use of its social media platform was linked to depression and anxiety, documents allegedly show<\/p>\n
Facebook\u2019s parent company, Meta, hid the results of in-house research into the negative health impacts of using the social media site, according to recently unredacted court filings.
\nThe company\u2019s internal communications were released on Friday as part of a long-running, high-profile lawsuit brought by US school districts against several social media companies. It alleges that their platforms have caused mental harm and addiction among children and teenagers.
\nIn a 2020 study, Meta asked people to stop using Facebook for a period of time, comparing them to a control group that continued normal use, according to the documents.
\n\u201cTo Meta\u2019s disappointment, pilot tests of the deactivation study confirmed that \u2018people who stopped using Facebook for a week reported lower feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and social comparison,\u2019\u201d the filings allege.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than investigate further, or sound the alarm, Meta halted the project \u2013 claiming that participants\u2019 feedback was biased by \u2018the result of the existing media narrative around the company.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite their own findings about the causal link between Facebook use and adverse mental health effects, \u201cMeta lied to Congress about what it knew,\u201d the filings allege.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Zuckerberg\u2019s sudden censorship thaw is not free speech<\/p>\n
The social media giant has faced increased scrutiny in the US in recent months.
\nIn October, Meta said it would add new safeguards to its \u201cteen accounts,\u201d allowing parents to turn off their children\u2019s communications with the company\u2019s AI chatbots, following earlier revelations that they could engage minors in romantic or sensual conversation.
\nThe company has also faced pressure from the US Federal Trade Commission, which has accused it of holding a monopoly in social networking.
\nHowever, last week a Washington district court ruled in Meta\u2019s favor in the antitrust lawsuit, stating that the US competition watchdog had not proven that the company currently holds a monopoly, \u201cwhether or not Meta enjoyed monopoly power in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The company hid findings that use of its social media platform was linked to depression and anxiety, documents allegedly show Facebook\u2019s parent company, Meta, hid the results of in-house research…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t