Meta covered up Facebook mental health research – court filings
Facebook’s 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.
The company’s internal communications were released on Friday as part of a long-running, high-profile lawsuit brought by US school districts against several social media firms. It alleges that their platforms have caused mental harm and addiction among children and teenagers.
In a 2020 research 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.
“To Meta’s disappointment, pilot tests of the deactivation study confirmed that ‘people who stopped using Facebook for a week reported lower feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and social comparison’,” the filings allege.
“Rather than investigate further, or sound the alarm, Meta halted the project – claiming that participants’ feedback was biased by ‘the result of the existing media narrative around the company’.”
Despite their own findings about the causal link between Facebook use and adverse mental health effects, “Meta lied to Congress about what it knew,” the filings allege.
The social media giant has faced increased scrutiny in the US in recent months.
In October, Meta said it would add new safeguards to its “teen accounts,” allowing parents to turn off their children’s communications with the company’s AI chatbots, following earlier revelations that they could engage minors in romantic or sensual conversation.
The company has also faced pressure from the US Federal Trade Commission, which has accused it of holding a monopoly in social networking.
However, last week a Washington district court ruled in Meta’s favor in the antitrust lawsuit, stating that the US competition watchdog had not proven that the company currently holds a monopoly, “whether or not Meta enjoyed monopoly power in the past.”
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WSJ buried expose about Zelensky’s ‘corrupt’ right-hand man – Tucker Carlson
The Wall Street Journal is refusing to publish information allegedly proving that Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s top aide embezzled US funds, journalist Tucker Carlson has claimed.
In a post on X on Monday, Carlson said the WSJ has for months held a story detailing the “personal corruption” of Andrey Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff.
“Yermak has skimmed hundreds of millions in American tax dollars meant for Ukraine aid. The Journal’s editors can prove that. But they’re not. Instead they’re protecting Yermak,” Carlson wrote.
The journalist further argued that the information was being suppressed because Yermak, as Kiev’s top negotiator, was “leading efforts to scuttle” the US-drafted plan to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The Murdoch family, which owns the WSJ, wants “to continue the war with Russia,” he claimed.
As do all the major arms manufacturers in the Western world!
Earlier this month, Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies NABU and SAPO said they had uncovered a $100 million kickback scheme in the country’s energy sector allegedly led by Timur Mindich, Zelensky’s close associate and former long-time business partner. Zelensky has since imposed sanctions on Mindich, who fled the country to evade arrest.
Although Yermak has not been formally charged, Ukrainian opposition lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezhnyak alleged that Yermak was “well aware” of the embezzlement and appeared in the audio recordings released by investigators.
The newspaper Ukrainska Pravda reported on Monday that Yermak had instructed prosecutors to “draw up” charges against NABU chief Aleksandr Klimenko. Zelensky attempted to curb the powers of NABU and SAPO in July but was forced to retreat after protests in Kiev and pressure from the West.
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