Meta staff discussed 'whisper strategy' to discredit social media critic, court files show
Internal documents show discussion of turning academics against author of The Anxious Generation
Court documents filed in a US lawsuit have revealed that employees of Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, discussed a “whisper strategy” to discredit social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, whose book The Anxious Generation helped tip debate about online safety towards more stringent measures. Meeting minutes from early 2023 show staff discussing how to “get the academic community to disavow Haidt” and turn other academics against him.