Several years ago, a Facebook whistleblower revealed that the company had knowledge its platforms could be harmful and addictive to users yet did nothing about it. Now, the social media giant is beginning to face lawsuits over this issue, including one that was unsealed this weekend revealing the company’s top leader was well aware of the problem.

In the most damning part of the filing, it claims that Facebook actually defunded its mental health team instead of working to address the problems around young people using its platforms. It also claims that Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was personally warned of this issue, being told that “We are not on track to succeed for our core well-being topics (problematic use, bullying & harassment, connections, and SSI), and are at increased regulatory risk and external criticism. These affect everyone, especially Youth and Creators; if not addressed, these will follow us into the Metaverse.”

For its part, Facebook vehemently denied the claim that it defunded its mental health work, saying that “Today, there are hundreds of employees working across the company to build features to this effect.” However, there are still serious allegations in this suit that the company will be forced to address sooner rather than later.

Recommended Resources

Choose what the experts use: award-winning cybersecurity you can trust and rely on.

Surf the web truly incognito. Try Bitdefender Premium VPN, the ultra-fast VPN that keeps your online identity and activities safe from hackers, ISPs and snoops.

System Mechanic 14 – Make your computer run like new. Winner of 200+ Editor’s Choice awards!