But inside the company, researchers have sought to study whether certain Facebook features could contribute to “addiction” or “addictive’-like” behaviors among users. Some of the features the company’s researchers raised questions about, including autoplay and endlessly scrolling feeds, are among the same features that lawsuits now claim contribute to youth addiction and harm. But the documents show employees expressing concerns that Harris might suggest changes to Facebook that the company’s product teams wouldn’t be willing to make. The researchers hypothesized that certain features could “promote frequent, automatic, undesired behaviors” that build habits users may not want or intend. She said Meta researchers have also met with other academics working in the space, including United Kingdom psychologists and digital psychology researchers Daria Kuss and Mark Griffiths, who were mentioned in the 2018 proposal along with Harris.

Source: CNN February 24, 2026 19:02 UTC