For years now, social media has been cast as the main culprit behind rising mental health issues among teens and young adults. Anxiety? Blame Instagram. Loneliness? TikTok. Depression? Must be the algorithm. However, according to Meta, that story doesn’t actually align with the science. In a recent response to lawsuits and growing political pressure around teen social media bans, Meta pushed back hard on the idea that social platforms alone are responsible for youth mental he