Whistleblower breaks Facebook secrecy wall, MP says

A former Facebook employee told US politicians the social network harmed children's mental health and stoked division. Among documents leaked to the Wall Street Journal was Facebook research into how Instagram affected teenagers. Much of it reportedly reflected external research finding that the platform had a damaging effect on teenage girls' body image and mental health.

Laura Edelson, Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science at NYU Tandon and co-founder of the Ad Observer project along with Damon McCoy, member of NYU’s Center for Cybersecurity, read the documents differently.

"What I have been struck by as we have learned more about Facebook's internal research is how consistent it is with my own work and the work of other academics who study how the platform behaves," said Edelson.