Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (c) with President Donald Trump (r) and the First Lady Melania Trump at the White House

Meta, led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is under fire for allegedly shutting down an internal study that found people felt less depressed and anxious after stopping Facebook use.

A newly unsealed legal filing says the 2019 research project, called Project Mercury, tested a random group of users who agreed to stop using Facebook and Instagram for a month. 

Early results reportedly showed that users who took even a one-week break felt less lonely and experienced fewer negative social comparisons.

The lawsuit claims Meta never shared these findings and instead ended the research. It also alleges the company later misled Congress about what it knew.

Meta denies any wrongdoing, calling the claims misleading and saying the study was flawed. 

The case is part of a larger lawsuit accusing Meta, YouTube, Snap, and TikTok of harming young users’ mental health.