An internal research study at Meta dubbed “Project MYST” created in partnership with the University of Chicago, found that parental supervision and controls — such as time limits and restricted access — had little impact on kids’ compulsive use of social media. The study also found that kids who experienced stressful life events were more likely to lack the ability to moderate their social media use appropriately.
This was one of the notable claims revealed during testimony at the social media addiction trial that began last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The plaintiff in the lawsuit is identified by her initials “KGM” or her first name, “Kaley.” She, along with her mother and others joining the case, is accusing social media companies of creating “addictive and dangerous” products that led the young users to suffer anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, eating disorders, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and more.
The case is now one of several landmark trials that will take place this year, which accuse social media companies of harming children. The results of these lawsuits will impact these companies’ approach to their younger users and could prompt regulators to take further action.
In this case, the plaintiff sued Meta, YouTube, ByteDance (TikTok), and Snap, but the latter two companies had settled their claims before the trial’s start.
In the jury trial now underway in L.A., Kaley’s lawyer, Mark Lanier, brought up an internal study at Meta, which he said found evidence that Meta knew of, yet didn’t publicize, these specific harms.
In Project MYST, which stands for the Meta and Youth Social Emotional Trends survey, Meta’s research concluded that “parental and household factors have little association with teens’ reported levels of attentiveness to their social media use.”
Or, in other words, even when parents try to control their children’s social media use, either by using pare …