Facebook’s Dark Secret: What Project Mercury Really Found

Social media affects mental health. This fact is sinking Meta.

Meta angered its users and the public—on its own accord. The company perhaps meant well, but the results, as usual, were disastrous. Now, it must handle a lawsuit filed against it. The accusation? Misleading people instead of taking essential preventive measures. What exactly happened?

What Did They Study and Why? Project Mercury’s Core Assumptions

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, ran a study. The goal was to check how its social platforms affect mental well-being. Researchers looked at randomly selected users who had to deactivate the apps for one month.

The Experiment Meant to Stay Secret: How Project Mercury Worked

The project, codenamed Project Mercury, was carried out starting in 2020 in cooperation with Nielsen. It was intended to verify how social networks influence:

• polarization,
• news consumption,
• well-being,
• daily social interactions.

These analyses were very much needed and could have contributed significantly to the mental health prevention of users. However, the owner of both media outlets secretly hid the results instead of sharing them.

More precisely, they hid the preliminary analysis results, because Meta prevented the completion of the final work. Why?

The First Findings Were Alarming. That’s When Meta Cut the Project

It turned out the research showed that even a one-week reset from Facebook positively impacted users’ psychological well-being.

“People who stopped using Facebook for a week reported lower levels of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and social comparison,” internal Meta documents obtained by Reuters indicate.

This served as a clear warning sign for the platform and the profits it generates. Most likely, this explains why the company never completed the specialists’ work.

The truth came out anyway. Some data from the project leaked and caused considerable commotion within the community.

The Lawsuit That Shook Big Tech: Parents vs. Meta

This data provides the foundation for the lawsuit filed against Meta, YouTube, Snap, and TikTok. School districts, parents, and state attorneys are the main plaintiffs. The charges? Social media representatives allegedly knew about the negative impact their platforms have on children’s mental health, yet they misled the public.

Furthermore, Meta supposedly encouraged minors to use its services during school hours and delayed implementing protections against users who could harm children and teenagers. This case holds particular significance for our children and adolescents.

How Often Do Kids Use Social Media?

According to Gemius research, a staggering 1.4 million Polish minors use messengers and social media platforms. Regarding social networks alone, TikTok is the most popular—800,000 children use it daily. Facebook comes in second with 630,000, and Instagram closes the podium with approximately 370,000 young people regularly using the medium.

Significantly, the research included the latter two media (Facebook and Instagram). And activity on these types of services affects a person’s psyche.

Meta Defends Itself, But the Arguments Don’t Sound Convincing

Meta representatives themselves issued a statement firmly denying that the company neglected the safety of children and youth. On the contrary, they explain that they have invested in ensuring the safety of minors on their platform for years.

Then why did they stop the research?

Andy Stone, a Meta spokesperson, claimed the project was halted because it was methodologically flawed. The results allegedly did not prove a cause-and-effect link between the influence of social media, specifically Facebook, and mental well-being.

The Court Decides the Future of Social Media. Trial Starts in 2026

Ultimately, the court will determine the truth. The first hearing takes place on January 26, 2026, in California, USA.

Read this article in Polish: Co odkrył Project Mercury? Ujawniono wyniki badań Facebooka