Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended against claims that social media is a direct cause of mental health issues in teens during an interview with The Verge. He referenced academic research, asserting that “the majority of high-quality studies suggest there’s no broad causal connection between these factors.”
Zuckerberg’s statements echo his previous testimony before Congress in January, where he maintained that current research has not definitively established that social media harms teen mental health. While he acknowledged the challenges in proving causality, he emphasized that social media can have both positive and negative impacts on young people.
He advocated for providing parents with tools to help manage their children’s social media usage, suggesting that while Meta may not be the root cause of any issues, the company can play a role in improving the situation. Recently, Meta has launched features like private accounts for teens, restricted direct messages, and “Sleep Mode” to limit notifications during the night. Last year, they also introduced a suite of parental controls for Instagram and Messenger, aimed at giving parents more oversight.
Concerns regarding social media’s effects on youth mental health heightened following the 2021 release of internal Meta documents, known as the Facebook Papers, which indicated the company’s awareness of Instagram’s potential negative effects on some teenagers. This disclosure led to calls from U.S. lawmakers for stricter age-gating measures, with some advocating for warning labels similar to those on tobacco products.
Zuckerberg also reiterated that app store operators like Google and Apple should be responsible for enforcing age verification, noting that this is already standard practice in online payments. Despite his position, he stated that Meta would comply with any government regulations regarding child safety.
