Meta considered a ‘whisper strategy’ to turn academics against Jonathan Haidt

<figure> <img alt="Mark Zuckerberg wearing sunglasses leaving a court house in a black SUV." data-caption="" data-portal-copyright="Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/04/STKS507_FTCxMETA_ANTITRUST_CVIRGINIA_4_E.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">As Meta was feeling public pressure over teen mental health, and facing an <a href="https://www.theverge.com/policy/867830/social-media-trials-product-liability-school-districts">impending onslaught of kids safety trials</a>, the company considered a campaign to discredit a key critic: social psychologist Jonathan Haidt.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Newly filed <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.401490/gov.uscourts.cand.401490.3604.6.pdf">court documents</a> show that in March 2023, Meta discussed a "Whisper strategy" to "turn academics against Haidt," a thought leader who blamed social media for rising adolescent depression and anxiety. Haidt hadn't yet published his bestselling book, <em>The Anxious Generation,</em> but he <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Haidt%20Testimony.pdf">testified about his conclusions before Congress in 2022</a>, and in February 2023, he <a href="https://www.afterbabel.com/p/the-teen-mental-illness-epidemic">began posting</a> more of his theories and research to Substack. …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/policy/1020012/meta-jonathan-haidt-social-media-mental-health">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>