US EditionWhat Was Project Mercury that Meta Quietly Shut Down After It Exposed Social Media Harm?
Meta ended Project Mercury after early findings showed Facebook deactivation reduced depression, anxiety, and loneliness, according to unsealed court filings from a lawsuit by U.S. school districts.
- On November 21, 2025, newly unsealed filings show Meta discontinued Project Mercury after early results suggested stepping away from Facebook reduced user distress.
- Project Mercury began as an internal effort in late 2019 designed to evaluate Facebook and Instagram's effects on emotional well-being and social behaviour using randomized user samples who paused activity up to a month.
- Meta scientists partnered with Nielsen and used randomized samples to measure mood shifts and social comparison in study participants who deactivated accounts for seven days, reporting lower depression and anxiety.
- The multidistrict litigation alleges Motley Rice and hundreds of school districts could force fuller disclosure of internal research and change industry practices, while a January 26, 2026 hearing in the Northern District of California will decide if contested documents become public.
- Meta pushed back, with spokesman Andy Stone saying its methodology was flawed and accusing plaintiffs of cherry-picked quotes while asserting it has made real changes to protect teens.
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What was Project Mercury that Meta quietly shut down after it exposed social media harm?
Unredacted legal documents show Meta ended Project Mercury after early data indicated reduced loneliness, anxiety and social comparison among users who left Facebook for a week. The filings also cite internal warnings comparing suppression of findings to historical tobacco industry conduct, while alleging Meta downplayed risks
'Not Quite Nimble Enough': FTC's Antitrust Case Against Meta Took 5 Years to Play Out, a Span When Everything Changed
"The longer the case takes, the more that intervening developments in the sector can disrupt your theory of harm," said Bill Kovacic, a Georgetown law professor who was Federal Trade Commission chair in 2008 and 2009.
Meta knew that cutting out of Facebook was good for its users. However, the social media giant allegedly chose to suppress an internal study that established a clear link between its social network and adverse effects on mental health, according to a lawsuit filed in the United States.
Meta defends itself against discontinued report showing harm from Facebook and Instagram use
According to recently disclosed court documents, Meta, Facebook’s parent company, halted a study that demonstrated psychological harm caused by its platforms. The project showed that users who took a week-long break from Facebook and Instagram experienced fewer feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and social comparison pressure. Despite these findings, Meta chose to discontinue the project [… The post Meta defends itself against disconti…
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