https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/meta-buried-causal-evidence-social-media-harm-us-court-filings-allege-2025-11-23/ Skip to main content Exclusive news, data and analytics for financial market professionals Learn more aboutRefinitiv * World Browse World + Africa + Americas + Asia Pacific + China + Europe + India + Israel and Hamas at War + Japan + Middle East + Ukraine and Russia at War + United Kingdom + United States + Reuters NEXT * Business Browse Business + Aerospace & Defense + Autos & Transportation + Davos + Energy + Environment + Finance + Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals + Media & Telecom + Retail & Consumer + Future of Health + Future of Money + Take Five + World at Work * Markets Browse Markets + Asian Markets + Carbon Markets + Commodities + Currencies + Deals + Emerging Markets + ETFs + European Markets + Funds + Global Market Data + Rates & Bonds + Stocks + U.S. Markets + Wealth + Econ World * Sustainability Browse Sustainability + Boards, Policy & Regulation + Climate & Energy + Land Use & Biodiversity + Society & Equity + Sustainable Finance & Reporting + The Switch + Reuters Impact + COP30 * Legal Browse Legal + Government + Legal Industry + Litigation + Transactional + US Supreme Court * Commentary Browse Commentary + Breakingviews + ROI: Reuters Open Interest * Technology Browse Technology + Artificial Intelligence + Cybersecurity + Space + Disrupted * Investigations * More Sports + Athletics + Baseball + Basketball + Cricket + Cycling + Formula 1 + Golf + NFL + NHL + Soccer + Tennis Science Lifestyle City Memo Graphics Pictures Wider Image Podcasts + Reuters World News + Reuters Econ World + On Assignment + Viewsroom + The Big View Live Fact Check Video Sponsored Content + Reuters Plus + Press Releases My News Register Meta buried 'causal' evidence of social media harm, US court filings allege By Jeff Horwitz November 23, 20252:54 PM UTCUpdated ago * * * * * * * * People walk behind a logo of Meta Platforms company, during a conference in Mumbai, People walk behind a logo of Meta Platforms company, during a conference in Mumbai, India, September 20, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab * Summary * Companies * Plaintiffs allege Meta hid product risks from users and authorities * Meta accused of ineffective youth safety features and prioritizing growth over safety * Meta opposed unsealing of internal documents in court * Meta allegedly ignored valid research findings on mental health impacts * TikTok allegedly influenced National PTA to publicly support its safety claims Nov 22 (Reuters) - (This Nov. 22 story has been corrected to remove the reference to Instagram in paragraph 1 and 2. It also corrects the type of lawsuit in paragraph 1 and removes reference to Clegg in paragraph 4) Meta shut down internal research into the mental health effects of Facebook after finding causal evidence that its products harmed users' mental health, according to unredacted filings in a lawsuit by U.S. school districts against Meta and other social media platforms. Sign up here. In a 2020 research project code-named "Project Mercury," Meta (META.O), opens new tab scientists worked with survey firm Nielsen to gauge the effect of "deactivating" Facebook, according to Meta documents obtained via discovery. To the company's disappointment, "people who stopped using Facebook for a week reported lower feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness and social comparison," internal documents said. Rather than publishing those findings or pursuing additional research, the filing states, Meta called off further work and internally declared that the negative study findings were tainted by the "existing media narrative" around the company. Privately, however, a staffer insisted that the conclusions of the research were valid, according to the filing. "The Nielsen study does show causal impact on social comparison," (unhappy face emoji), an unnamed staff researcher allegedly wrote. Another staffer worried that keeping quiet about negative findings would be akin to the tobacco industry "doing research and knowing cigs were bad and then keeping that info to themselves." Despite Meta's own work documenting a causal link between its products and negative mental health effects, the filing alleges, Meta told Congress that it had no ability to quantify whether its products were harmful to teenage girls. In a statement Saturday, Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the study was stopped because its methodology was flawed and that it worked diligently to improve the safety of its products. "The full record will show that for over a decade, we have listened to parents, researched issues that matter most, and made real changes to protect teens," he said. PLAINTIFFS ALLEGE PRODUCT RISKS WERE HIDDEN The allegation of Meta burying evidence of social media harms is just one of many in a late Friday filing by Motley Rice, a law firm suing Meta, Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, TikTok and Snapchat (SNAP.N), opens new tab on behalf of school districts around the country. Broadly, the plaintiffs argue the companies have intentionally hidden the internally recognized risks of their products from users, parents and teachers. TikTok, Google and Snapchat did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Allegations against Meta and its rivals include tacitly encouraging children below the age of 13 to use their platforms, failing to address child sexual abuse content and seeking to expand the use of social media products by teenagers while they were at school. The plaintiffs also allege that the platforms attempted to pay child-focused organizations to defend the safety of their products in public. In one instance, TikTok sponsored the National PTA and then internally boasted about its ability to influence the child-focused organization. Per the filing, TikTok officials said the PTA would "do whatever we want going forward in the fall... (t)hey'll announce things publicly(,), (t)heir CEO will do press statements for us." By and large, however, the allegations against the other social media platforms are less detailed than those against Meta. The internal documents cited by the plaintiffs allege: 1. Meta intentionally designed its youth safety features to be ineffective and rarely used, and blocked testing of safety features that it feared might be harmful to growth. 2. Meta required users to be caught 17 times attempting to traffic people for sex before it would remove them from its platform, which a document described as "a very, very, very high strike threshold." 3. Meta recognized that optimizing its products to increase teen engagement resulted in serving them more harmful content, but did so anyway. 4. Meta stalled internal efforts to prevent child predators from contacting minors for years due to growth concerns, and pressured safety staff to circulate arguments justifying its decision not to act. 5. In a text message in 2021, Mark Zuckerberg said that he wouldn't say that child safety was his top concern "when I have a number of other areas I'm more focused on like building the metaverse." Zuckerberg also shot down or ignored requests by Nick Clegg, Meta's then-head of global public policy, to better fund child safety work. Meta's Stone disputed these allegations, saying the company's teen safety measures are effective and that the company's current policy is to remove accounts as soon as they are flagged for sex trafficking. He said the suit misrepresents its efforts to build safety features for teens and parents, and called its safety work "broadly effective." "We strongly disagree with these allegations, which rely on cherry-picked quotes and misinformed opinions," Stone said. The underlying Meta documents cited in the filing are not public, and Meta has filed a motion to strike the documents. Stone said the objection was to the over-broad nature of what plaintiffs are seeking to unseal, not unsealing in its entirety. A hearing regarding the filing is set for January 26 in Northern California District Court. Reporting by Jeff Horwitz in San Francisco; Editing by Nick Zieminski and David Gregorio Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Boards, Policy & Regulation * Consumer Protection * * * * * Purchase Licensing Rights Read Next * agoBoards, Policy & Regulationcategory Kohl's to name Michael Bender as permanent CEO: Bloomberg A Kohl's department store in New York * November 22, 2025Boards, Policy & Regulationcategory Fed's Collins: Monetary policy currently in right place, hesitant about cutting rates Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Susan Collins poses for a picture in Jackson Hole, Wyoming * November 22, 2025World at Workcategory India trade unions condemn new labour codes, plan nationwide protests Workers stitch hoodies in a garment manufacturing unit on the outskirts of Ahmedabad * November 22, 2025World at Workcategory Canada Post, union reach deal in principle to end strike and lockout actions Postal Workers Protest in Downtown Toronto * November 22, 2025Businesscategory Bill Ackman eyes dual public offerings for Pershing Square and new fund, WSJ reports Milken Institute Global Conference 2025 in Beverly Hills LSEG Workspace Sustainability * A Kohl's department store in New York Kohl's to name Michael Bender as permanent CEO: Bloomberg Boards, Policy & Regulationcategory * November 23, 2025 * 5:20 PM UTC * ago Kohl's named Bender as interim CEO after firing former chief Ashley Buchanan over an undisclosed personal relationship with a vendor. * UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), in Belem ANALYSISCOP30 deal exposes fragile climate unity as US steps back 3:49 PM UTC * Villagers struggle with aftermath of intense Iberian wildfires COP30categoryTakeaways from the COP30 climate summit in Brazil 3:28 PM UTC * People walk behind a logo of Meta Platforms company, during a conference in Mumbai, Boards, Policy & RegulationcategoryMeta buried 'causal' evidence of social media harm, US court filings allege 2:54 PM UTC * Leaders attend a plenary session on the opening day of the G20 Summit, in Johannesburg COP30categoryTurkey's Erdogan praises 'meaningful' deal with Australia on hosting COP31 summit 7:18 AM UTC Site Index Browse * World * Business * Markets * Sustainability * Legal * Breakingviews * Technology * Investigations * Sports * Science * Lifestyle About Reuters * About Reuters, opens new tab * Advertise with Us, opens new tab * Careers, opens new tab * Reuters News Agency, opens new tab * Brand Attribution Guidelines, opens new tab * Reuters and AI, opens new tab * Reuters Leadership, opens new tab * Reuters Fact Check * Reuters Diversity Report, opens new tab * Commercial Disclosure (Japan), opens new tab Stay Informed * Download the App (iOS), opens new tab * Download the App (Android), opens new tab * Newsletters * Subscribe Information you can trust Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world's largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. 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