Prince Harry again Meghan Markle they spoke after a Los Angeles judge ruled against Google and Meta in a landmark case about social media addiction.
On Wednesday, March 25, the two giants were ordered to pay 6 million rands in compensation and punitive damages to a young woman who alleged that Instagram owned by Meta and YouTube owned by Google were designed to be addictive, causing damage to her mental health at a young age.
“This decision is a decision,” the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said in a statement Us Weekly. “For too long families have paid the price for platforms built with no regard for children accessing them. We stand with every parent and young person who refuses to be silenced. Today, the truth has been heard and an example has been made.”
A woman identified as KGM, now in her 20s, sued Google, Meta, and other tech companies in 2023, alleging that the features found on social media are addictive. He said he started using social media at the age of 6 and that the popularity of Instagram and YouTube took a toll on him, including depression, physical disability and thoughts of self-harm. The New York Times and NBC news.
The judge said Meta must pay KGM $4.2 million in combined compensatory and punitive damages. YouTube owner Google has been ordered to pay $1.8 million.
Both Meta and Google said they disagree with the decision and plan to appeal.
“The mental health of young people is very complex and cannot be pinned down to a single app. We will continue to protect ourselves vigorously as every situation is different, and we remain confident in our history of protecting young people online,” a Meta spokesperson told NBC News.
A Google spokesperson José Castañeda he told NBC News that the lawsuit “misunderstands YouTube, which is a well-established streaming platform, not a social network.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are “concerned” about raising their two children in a world driven by social media. “Being a mother is the most important thing in my whole life,” said Meghan, 42, during the Project Healthy Minds’ World Mental Health Day Festival on Tuesday, October 10. “Apart from the fact of being a wife. […]
Harry, 41, and Meghan, 44, have been outspoken about internet safety among children, especially when it comes to social media, and have supported various initiatives around the cause through their foundation, Archewell Philanthropies.
In April 2025, the couple, who shared a son Prince Archie6, and a daughter Princess Lilibet4, presented the “Lost Screen Memorial,” an installation in New York City that aims to highlight the negative impact of social media on young people.
The memorial included images of children who “lost their lives because of the trauma they experienced on social media,” according to the visual version of the “Lost Screen Memorial.”
“These children were not sick. Their deaths were inevitable – they were exposed to, and in many cases pushed, harmful content on the internet, the kind any child would encounter,” Harry said in a statement. Us at that time.
“No child should be exploited, nurtured, or consumed in digital spaces. On social media, they may be seen as statistics. In their families, they were loved and irreplaceable,” he added.
