Meta settlement opens new front in global fight over social media harm

August 27, 2026 1:22 PM

Meta settlement opens new front in global fight over social media harm

Meta's move to restrict teenagers' use of social media in the U.S. shows companies have tools to better protect young people online, Australian regulators said on Thursday, as the country grapples with patchy enforcement of restrictions at home. Meta's up to $18 billion settlement with nearly 50 U.S. states over social media harm to teenagers has opened a new front in a global government fight to protect children and curb addiction to platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Governments aroun...

Meta buried ‘causal’ evidence of social media harm, US court filings allege

November 23, 2025 10:50 AM

Meta buried ‘causal’ evidence of social media harm, US court filings allege

Meta shut down internal research into the mental health effects of Facebook and Instagram after finding causal evidence that its products harmed users’ mental health, according to unredacted filings in a class action by U.S. school districts against Meta and other social media platforms. In a 2020 research project code-named “Project Mercury,” Meta scientists worked with survey firm Nielsen to gauge the effect of “deactivating” Facebook and Instagram, according to Meta documents obtai...