“Project MYST,” an internal study by Meta, created in partnership with the University of Chicago found that parental supervision and controls like time limits and restricted access had little impact on kids’ social media use. The study also found that kids experiencing stressful life events are more likely to be unable to moderate their social media use appropriately.
This was one of the claims revealed during testimony at the social media addiction trial that began last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Meta is one of the tech companies named in a lawsuit filed by a group of parents, teens, and school districts, who allege the companies have designed their products to be addictive. Snap, TikTok, and YouTube have also been named in the lawsuit.
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The plaintiff in the lawsuit, who is known by her initials KGM and her first name “Kaley,” along with her mother and others who joined 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.
Meta’s research with Project MYST — which stands for Meta and Youth Social Emotional Trends Survey — found that “parental and household factors have little association with teens’ reported levels of attentiveness to their social media use.”
This means that parents trying to control their children’s social media use, either through parental controls or through household rules, doesn’t make much of a difference when it comes to compulsive social media use. The study was based on a survey of 1,000 teens and their parents about their social media habits.
The study also noted that both parents and teens agree “there is no association between either parental reports or teen reports of parental supervision, and teens’ survey measures of attentiveness or capability.”
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During his testimony, Instagram head Adam Mosseri claimed not to be familiar with Meta’s Project MYST, even though a document seemed to indicate he had given his approval to move forward with the study.
“We do a lot of research projects,” Mosseri said, after claiming he couldn’t remember anything specific about MYST beyond its name.
The plaintiff’s lawyer pointed to this study as a reason why social media companies should be held accountable for their alleged harms, rather than parents. Meanwhile, Meta’s lawyers pushed the idea that the study was more narrowly focused on understanding if teens felt they were using social media too much, not whether they were actually addicted or not. Mosseri did note, however, that MYST’s findings had not been published publicly, and no warnings were ever issued to teens or parents as a result of the research.