Unsealed documents from a U.S. court case involving Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, reveal that the tech giant had stopped internal research on Facebook’s impact on mental health after finding evidence that its platforms were harmful to users.
The case includes details of an internal project called “Project Mercury,” where Meta partnered with scientists in 2020 to study the effects of temporarily deactivating Facebook.
According to documents, the results did not paint a good picture. The results allegedly show that users who deactivated Facebook account for just one week reported reduced feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and social comparison.
Instead of making these findings public or continuing the research, Meta reportedly stopped any further studies and internally suggested the negative outcomes were influenced by the “existing media narrative” about the platform.
These potential findings add to the growing evidence linking social media use to poor mental health, particularly among young people.
And while social media has transformed global connectivity, it can also significantly harm mental health, especially for youth.
Despite its own data showing adverse effects, Meta told U.S. Congress it lacked a way to measure potential harm.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone defended the company, stating that efforts have been made to improve platform safety and that the study was only discontinued due to flawed methodology.
The Meta documents cited in the case remain sealed, and the company is seeking to have them removed from the record. A hearing is set for January 26 in the Northern District of California.
