Meta plotted to discredit Jonathan Haidt and steer youth mental health science, internal documents show
It's now official, tech is the new tobacco
Newly unsealed internal Meta documents, released through an ongoing lawsuit over adolescent addiction, reveal explicit plans to discredit psychologist Jonathan Haidt, frustration among company researchers blocked by lawyers from studying youth mental health, and efforts to shape National Academies research so product features stay out of scope. The author argues these tactics mirror the tobacco and fossil fuel playbooks and that industry ties pervade much published social media research.
Why would lawyers stop these studies? Because they risk finding something.
- keybrd-intrrpt
> ___ has been working hard to control the scientific narrative on their products
Instead of tech, tobacco, whatever
It's just corporations.
The food and sugar industries have tried to control or pollute scientific narrative. The car industry ("Unsafe at Any Speed"), oil and gas, mining, chemical manufacturers, and on and on.
Why do so many people seem to forget the lessons of the past with some "shiny new" industry, become enamored with it, and think "wow, these are the good guys!".
When billions upon billions, and now in some cases *TRILLIONS* of dollars are at stake, corporations will do whatever they can to protect and grow that money.
- hypfer
Does that mean that the cool kids on the schoolyard now use tech while wearing leather jackets to signal rebellion?
Is it finally the time for the nerds to shine?
- pixl97
Everything is the new tobacco when it comes to hiding their dangers. Tobacco showed that you could spend a relatively small amount of money and make billions for decades while kicking the can down the road.
- wood_spirit
Also in news: apparently AI researchers are taking up smoking!
https://ground.news/article/ai-researchers-reportedly-so-con... Etc
- erelong
Tobacco is a nootropic
Social media is a powerful tool for sharing and obtaining info
Poison is the dose