Meta expert disputes New Mexico testimony on social media mental health causation
By Maria Dinzeo and Mike Swift ( May 22, 2026, 00:54 GMT | Insight) -- As New Mexico's remedies bench trial against Meta Platforms continued in Santa Fe, an expert witness for Meta contested the state's argument that social media is harming the mental health of the state's teenagers. Justin McCrary, who teaches at Columbia University Law School, spent much of the day working to rebut psychologist Zachary Ward’s testimony about worsening mental health, with McCrary saying Ward's findings contain significant flaws — primarily that they are correlational, not causational. An economist and law professor testifying in New Mexico's remedies bench trial against Meta Platforms said he would give no weight to a study linking social media use to teen mental health. ...
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