A new report details how Meta's legal team abandoned traditional lawyer ethics, following a playbook perfected by Big Tobacco. Internal documents and whistleblower testimony reveal attorneys ordered evidence of child exploitation destroyed and suppressed research on teen mental health harms. This mirrors the 1970s tobacco strategy of prioritizing corporate liability over public safety and truth.

The allegations stem from Project Mercury research showing Instagram use worsens depression, which Meta lawyers buried. Whistleblowers Jason Sattizahn and Kayce Savage testified about pervasive child endangerment in Meta's VR platforms, with lawyers creating a 'funnel of manipulation' to control safety research. A judge later pierced attorney-client privilege, citing probable cause of misconduct.

This case exposes how legal privilege, meant to foster candor, became a tool for concealing harm. The cost mirrors tobacco's legacy: eroded public trust and delayed accountability. What happens next depends on whether courts and regulators enforce the threefold duty to client, court, and country.