Meta halted internal research after early results showed Facebook could harm users' mental health, according to newly unsealed court documents from a lawsuit filed by US school districts.

The filings claim Meta ended the work once it discovered evidence that people who stopped using Facebook felt less anxious and less depressed.

The research, known as Project Mercury, began in 2020. Meta scientists worked with the survey group Nielsen to study what happened when users deactivated Facebook for one week.

According to the documents, the results were clear: people reported "lower feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness and social comparison."

According to Reuters , instead of publishing the findings or continuing the research, the filings say Meta shut the project down and later

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