Skip to content
Sign in
Defense & Security · North America

Court notes say Meta staff planned effort to turn academics against Haidt

Newly filed court documents describe Meta employees discussing efforts to persuade academics to disavow social media critic Jonathan Haidt, as part of a broader strategy to shape public discussion.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 3 independent reports from 4 outlets · Article text read from 2 of 3 reportsHow it's made

View timeline · 5 entries
4 outlets2 regionsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Mostly CenterL 0 · C 3 · R 1
File photo
Photo: InvadingInvader / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

What happened

Key facts

  • A March 2023 entry attributed to an executive identified as Curtiss says his goal was to get academics to disavow Haidt; The Verge says this apparently refers to then-Meta vice president of research Curtiss Cobb (per The Verge, New York Post).
  • The notes say Curtiss wanted staff to focus on media and persuade reporters that Haidt was not credible (per New York Post, The Verge).
  • Staff apparently discussed approaching a media figure called “Gellman” to write critically about Haidt, but the person's identity was unclear (per New York Post, The Verge).
  • After Meta lost a social media addiction case in Los Angeles earlier that year, Haidt wrote that history would judge the company as harshly as the tobacco industry (per New York Post, The Verge).

The brief

Newly filed court documents describe Meta staff discussing a strategy to turn academics against social media critic Jonathan Haidt, including efforts to discredit him with reporters. The notes record the discussions; they do not establish that the contemplated outreach happened.

The Verge reports that a March 2023 document used the label “Whisper strategy” for the academic effort. Under a March 7, 2023 heading, the team considered how to respond to a Substack post in which Haidt reviewed research. The notes said his arguments could feature in multidistrict litigation over the next two years.

A March 2023 entry identified an executive only as Curtiss and described his goal as getting academics to disavow Haidt. The Verge says the reference apparently points to Curtiss Cobb, then Meta’s vice president of research. The notes also ask how to “enrage” academics if they could not be co-opted, as recorded in The Verge’s excerpt.

The New York Post’s account adds that Curtiss wanted staff to focus on media and persuade reporters that Haidt was not credible. It also says employees apparently discussed approaching a media figure identified as “Gellman” to write a critical piece; the person’s identity was unclear.

This account emphasizes possible press outreach, while The Verge foregrounds the proposed effort aimed at academics. Both accounts describe plans in notes, rather than documenting their execution. The dispute sits within scrutiny of Meta’s handling of research on young people and social media.

The New York Post reports that a separate March 2023 email exchange showed an employee complaining that Meta’s legal team was trying to block or redesign a planned study on youth social-emotional trends. The material described in the accounts does not establish whether the proposed changes were made or what happened to the study.

The New York Post also links Haidt’s criticism to a later legal development: after Meta lost a social media addiction case in Los Angeles earlier that year, Haidt wrote that history would judge Meta as harshly as the tobacco industry. That is Haidt’s stated view, not a court finding about the company’s historical standing.

The reported notes therefore raise questions about how Meta staff discussed academic and media criticism while the company faced scrutiny over social media and young people. Their documented content concerns proposed approaches to Haidt and his arguments; the accounts do not say that academics disavowed him or that the possible “Gellman” article appeared.

Why it matters

  • Haidt was the target of the proposed academic and media efforts described in the notes, which could affect how his criticism of social media reaches researchers and reporters.
  • The notes place the discussion alongside possible multidistrict litigation over the following two years, making the treatment of Haidt’s arguments relevant to a stated legal context.
  • The New York Post also reports an employee’s complaint that Meta’s legal team sought to block or redesign a planned study on youth social-emotional trends; the study’s fate is not established in the account.

What to watch next

  • Whether any academic outreach described in the notes occurred.
  • Whether the possible approach to the person identified as “Gellman” led to a critical article.
  • Whether the planned study on youth social-emotional trends was blocked, redesigned, or otherwise proceeded.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
4 source articles · 4 unique outlets · 3 distinct reports
Outlet political mix: Mostly Center· 3 Center · 1 Right
Where the outlets are based: US/Canada 75% · Europe 25%
Outlet political mix
Mostly Center
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
3 outlets
1 outlet
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
4 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among Center-rated outlets (3 of 4 rated sources); comparatively few Left-rated outlets have published on the event.
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among outlets based in US/Canada (3 of 4 geographically-identified sources).
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

1 framing difference · 2 uncorroborated claims · 4 information gaps
The reports repeat the same account with different emphasis; its central claims are not independently confirmed in the reporting Updat3 read.Compared across 2 reports whose article text Updat3 read; 1 other outlet was checked by headline only.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources emphasise different angles, actors or consequences of the same reporting.
  • The Verge emphasizes the “Whisper strategy” and the effort to turn academics against Haidt; the New York Post adds proposed media outreach and efforts to persuade reporters that he lacked credibility.
Updat3: These are differences of emphasis, not disputes about what is reported. They do not show that the reported claims are true.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • The Verge reports the notes described a “Whisper strategy” to turn academics against Haidt.
  • The New York Post reports that Haidt said history would judge Meta as harshly as the tobacco industry.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • The accounts do not establish whether staff carried out the discussed academic or media approaches.
  • The accounts do not establish what happened to the proposed youth social-emotional trends study.
  • The New York Post says the identity of the person called “Gellman” was unclear.
  • The New York Post says Curtiss may refer to Curtiss Cobb; The Verge says the reference apparently concerns then-vice president of research Curtiss Cobb.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. The legal framework governing children’s online privacy began with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, signed into law in 1998.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. Meta’s platform history began with Facebook, launched by Mark Zuckerberg and fellow Harvard students on February 4, 2004.
    Background · from our historical context
  3. Facebook expanded beyond colleges in September 2006, making the service available to anyone aged 13 or older with a valid email address.
    Background · from our historical context
  4. In 2021, Facebook became Meta Platforms, reflecting the company’s broader corporate focus beyond its original social-networking service.
    Background · from our historical context
  5. In March 2023, a Meta employee also complained in an email that the company’s legal team was “trying to block or redesign” a planned study of “youth social emotional trends,” the Post reported.
    Background · from our historical context

How we got here

In 2026, Meta lost a social-media addiction case in Los Angeles, and Jonathan Haidt wrote afterward that history would judge the company as harshly as the tobacco industry, according to the New York Post.

That comparison drew on a public debate Haidt had helped shape: in *The Anxious Generation*, published in March 2024, the social psychologist argued that smartphones and social media had contributed to a deterioration in young people’s mental health.

Original sources

1 of 4 articles · Europe · Show all

Every story links to the reporting it was built from. How we choose sources

Spotted a factual error, a broken link or a misleading summary? Tell us.