Instagram’s ‘Big Tobacco’ tactic? Eyebrow research (funded by the tech giant) claims the social media app doesn’t cause anxiety or depression, despite plenty of research claiming the opposite

Academic research has long suggested that Instagram harms users’ mental health.

But an eyebrow-raising new study has claimed that the social media app doesn’t cause anxiety, loneliness or depression.

Critics today accused Meta, owner of Instagram and funder of the study, of using “Big Tobacco” tactics by funding the study, saying it “paints a highly selective picture for lawmakers and regulators.”

It even lines up with Meta’s own internal research, which found that British teens traced suicidal thoughts back to the app.

The publication of the article comes as Ofcom consults on new powers under the Online Safety Act, which will punish Big Tech platforms if they fail to protect users from harmful content.

The paper was presented at the prestigious Cyberpsychology Section Conference, organized by the British Psychological Society.

It looked at 372 people with Instagram accounts and 100 without, with an average age of 44 years.

First, they were asked to what extent they used the platform for interaction, browsing and broadcasting.

They were then asked to complete a questionnaire to assess their levels of anxiety, depression and loneliness.

It concluded that ‘adults who use Instagram are no more likely to experience anxiety, depression or loneliness than those who don’t.’

However, hidden deep at the end of the seven thousand word study, it emerged that the study’s authors, Professor Thomas Pollet and Dr Sam Roberts, had received funding from ‘Facebook Research’.

In a statement, under the heading “conflict of interest,” the company claims that the company “played no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.”

Researchers say adults who use Instagram are no more likely to experience anxiety, depression or loneliness than those who don’t.

After being contacted by the Mail, the authors added that if they had come to the opposite conclusion they would ‘have been published in exactly the same way’.

However, their conclusion is in stark contrast to dozens of studies over the past decade showing that social media has a negative impact on users’ mental well-being.

This includes scientific research that focuses specifically on Instagram.

A 2019 study of women aged 18 to 35 found that its use ‘significantly’ worsened their mental state – including anxiety and depression.

In 2021, whistleblower Frances Haugen revealed how the tech giant’s internal research found that Instagram was exacerbating body image issues for one in three girls – and that 13 percent of British teenagers traced suicidal thoughts to the app.

The following year, a coroner ruled that social media had contributed to the death of 14-year-old Molly Russell. The inquest heard how she had been bombarded with content about self-harm and suicide on Instagram.

Andy Burrows of the Molly Rose Foundation, which was set up in the teenager’s name, said: ‘Big Tech, building directly on the Big Tobacco playbook, wants to fund research that paints a highly selective picture for lawmakers and regulators.

“Meta’s hollow and predictable funding strategy is more about the bottom line than expanding our understanding of social media and its impact, whether ultimately good or bad.”

While admitting that previous studies had found a negative link between mental well-being and social media use, the study authors dismissed these studies as “female biased and focused on younger adults,” who were between the ages of 18 and 30.

Lead author Dr Roberts, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University, said: ‘We know that different groups can be affected in different ways by Instagram use, and our study is one that adds to a range of research showing that The overall use of social media on adult well-being is very small.

‘The average age of our study participants was much older than the average age of those who took part in previous research, which could have influenced the findings, and also suggests that different groups respond differently to social media and its potential impact on social media. welfare.’

Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, said: ‘By directly funding research into the harm their products cause to the public, tech companies are likely hoping to muddy the waters and undermine confidence in the established link between the use of social undermine the media. and poor mental health in some people.

‘It is understandable that people question the conclusions of research when the subject being studied has paid for it.

“This is part of much broader efforts in recent years to end transparency and accountability for the clear damage social media is doing to people’s health and to our society as a whole.”

Meta was contacted for comment.