Meta internal memos reveal plan to discredit teen-mental-health critic Jonathan Haidt
Unsealed court documents show Meta plotted to undermine Jonathan Haidt’s criticism of its platforms’ impact on teen mental health.
Court-unsealed records from a multidistrict litigation in California expose Meta’s well-being group planning to tarnish the reputation of social-media critic Jonathan Haidt, whose book “The Anxious Generation” has amplified concerns about teen mental health. Minutes from a March 2023 meeting record that research chief Curtiss Cobb tasked staff with convincing reporters that Haidt is not credible and discussed a “whisper strategy” to turn academics against him, even considering a take-down piece by a media figure referred to as “Gellman.”
An internal email showed frustration with the legal team’s attempts to block a study of youth social-emotional trends, while a 2022 message from former global affairs head Nick Clegg warned a presentation to the National Academies could raise uncomfortable design questions. Fairplay executive Josh Golin called the scheme a reputation-management stunt rather than a safety effort. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, overseeing the case, appointed retired Judge Suzanne Segal as special master to review about 170,000 documents after ordering Meta to produce them despite claims of attorney-client privilege.
Why it matters
It reveals how a major tech company may have tried to silence criticism about its impact on youth mental health.
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