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Unsealed Filing Alleges Meta Hid Evidence of Youth Harms, Citing Internal Chats and Studies

The newly public brief argues internal evidence shows engagement trumped youth safety, with a judge set to weigh key disclosures in January.

Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: John Nacion / Variety via Getty Images
A boy looks at an iPhone screen showing various social media apps including TikTok, Facebook and X, on December 19, 2023 in Bath, England.
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Overview

  • Plaintiffs’ 235-page brief in the Northern District of California quotes Meta staff calling Instagram a “drug” and includes testimony describing lenient enforcement for accounts tied to sex trafficking.
  • The filing says Meta halted a 2019–2020 deactivation study, Project Mercury, after pilot results showed users who paused Facebook reported lower depression, anxiety, loneliness and social comparison.
  • Former Instagram safety lead Vaishnavi Jayakumar testified the company used a “17x” strike policy allowing 16 violations for prostitution or sexual solicitation before suspension.
  • Meta disputes the portrayal as cherry‑picked and methodologically flawed, cites “expectation effects” in the deactivation research, and has moved to strike contested exhibits ahead of a January 26 hearing.
  • The brief also cites internal materials from TikTok, Snap and YouTube about addictive design and limited efficacy of safety tools, though many exhibits remain sealed and media have not independently verified them.