Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are speaking out after a Los Angeles jury ruled against Google and Meta in a landmark case regarding social media addiction.
On Wednesday, March 25, the 2 tech giants were ordered to pay $6 million in compensatory and punitive damages to a young woman who alleged that Meta-owned Instagram and Google-owned YouTube were designed to be addictive, causing detriment to her mental health as a minor.
“This verdict is a reckoning,” the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said in a press release to Us Weekly. “For too long, families have paid the worth for platforms built with total disregard for the kids they reach. We stand with every parent and young one who refused to be silenced. Today, the reality has been heard and precedent has been set.”
The girl identified only as K.G.M., now 20, sued Google, Meta, and other tech corporations in 2023, alleging that features on social media applications were designed to be addictive. She said she began using social media platforms at age 6 and that the likes of Instagram and YouTube had caused her harm, including depression, body dysmorphia and thoughts of self-harm, per The Recent York Times and NBC News.
A jury said Meta must pay K.G.M. $4.2 million in combined compensatory and punitive damages. YouTube owner Google was ordered to pay $1.8 million.
Each Meta and Google said they disagreed with the decision and plan to appeal.
“Teen mental health is profoundly complex and can’t be linked to a single app. We’ll proceed to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online,” a Meta spokesperson told NBC News.
Google spokesperson José Castañeda claimed to NBC News that the case “misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have “worries” about raising their two children in a social media-driven world. “Being a mom is an important thing in my entire life,” Meghan, 42, said during a panel at Project Healthy Minds’ World Mental Health Day Festival on Tuesday, October 10. “Outside after all to being a wife […]
Harry, 41, and Meghan, 44, have been outspoken about online safety amongst minors, particularly on the subject of social media, and have supported various initiatives across the cause through their foundation, Archewell Philanthropies.
In April 2025, the couple, who share son Prince Archie, 6, and daughter Princess Lilibet, 4, launched the “Lost Screen Memorial,” an installation in Recent York City aimed toward highlighting the negative impact of social media on young people.
The memorial incorporated images of youngsters who “lost their lives consequently of the harm they suffered on social media,” per a virtual version of the “Lost Screen Memorial.”
“These children weren’t sick. Their deaths weren’t inevitable — they were exposed to, and in lots of cases were pushed harmful content online, the sort any child could encounter,” Harry said in a press release issued to Us on the time.
“No child ought to be exploited, groomed, or preyed upon in digital spaces. To the platforms, they might be seen as statistics. To their families, they were cherished and irreplaceable,” he added.