Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
15%
3 of 20 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Technology
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Meta staff discussed deploying a “whisper strategy” to undermine the influential US academic whose work has inspired a global social media crackdown, according to court documents.
uncertain
work → discuss → documents
Employees at the parent group of Facebook and Instagram sought to discredit Jonathan Haidt, the social psychologist and author of The Anxious Generation, a book that helped tip the debate about online safety towards more stringent measures such as the under-16 ban in Australia.
asserted
that → seek → Australia
Minutes of internal meetings contained in a recent legal filing in the US showed that staff discussed how to “get the academic community to disavow Haidt”.
asserted
community → contain → Haidt
They appear in a document titled “Well-being Meeting Sound-check Notes”, which refers to discussions of how Meta could “turn other academics against Haidt” and to a “whisper strategy” aimed at achieving that goal.
uncertain
Meta → appear → goal
It also mentions “debunking” his work.
asserted
It → mention → work
Minutes from a meeting on 8 March 2023 mention “Curtiss”, an apparent reference to Meta’s then vice-president of research, Curtiss Cobb.
asserted
Minutes → mention → research
It states: “Curtiss’s goal for this work: how do we get the academic community to disavow Haidt.
asserted
community → state → Haidt
Can’t co-opt them, so how do we enrage them … so the media finds him not credible.”
asserted
him → co → them
It then adds: “Not thinking about this as a loud strategy.
asserted
It → add → strategy
It suggests getting someone called “Gellman” to write “a takedown piece”.
uncertain
someone → suggest → piece
The “Gellman” figure is not identified in the document but Andrew Gelman, a professor of statistics and political science at Columbia University who has been critical of Haidt’s work, wrote in a blogpost this week that he was “never hired by Facebook to do a hit job on Jonathan Haidt”.
asserted
he → identify → Haidt
Gelman said he had received money from Mark Zuckerberg’s company in the past on a “no-strings” basis but had never been asked by Meta to look at social media’s impact on teenagers’ health.
asserted
he → say → health
Haidt’s book The Anxious Generation argued that widespread use of smartphones has caused a mental health crisis for young people.
asserted
use → argue → people
The academic has become a persuasive advocate for strict regulation of digital media and devices, including bans on social media for under-16s and on smartphones in schools.
asserted
academic → become → schools
Early this year the then health secretary, Wes Streeting, asked Haidt to address officials on a possible social media ban for under-16s in the UK.
asserted
secretary → ask → UK
The minutes were produced before Haidt published his book in 2024 and discuss responding to a Substack post written by the academic in which he reviews “a bunch of articles”.
asserted
he → produce → articles
It is not clear whether Meta acted on the ideas outlined in the minutes.
asserted
Meta → act → minutes
In statement to the tech news website The Verge, Haidt said he was “not surprised” by the discussions, which were revealed in a court filing as part of a litigation brought by school districts suing the company.
asserted
which → say → company
“When companies can’t dispute the evidence, they go after the messenger,” he said.
asserted
he → dispute → messenger
Meta has been approached for comment.
asserted
Meta → approach → comment
The Aporia
