Prince Harry and Meghan Markle respond to major Meta and YouTube ruling

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have welcomed a major US court ruling that found Meta and YouTube accountable in a social media addiction case.

For those unversed, a Los Angeles jury ruled on Wednesday that the platforms were negligent in a lawsuit brought by a young woman who argued their design caused harm while she was growing up.

The companies were ordered to pay $3 million in compensatory damages, with Meta responsible for the majority share. Punitive damages are yet to be decided.

In a recent statement, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have hailed the verdict against the big tech firms. “This verdict is a reckoning,” the couple told People. “For too long, families have paid the price for platforms built with total disregard for the children they reach."

"We stand with every parent and young person who refused to be silenced. Today, the truth has been heard and precedent has been set.”

In a longer statement shared on their official website, Prince Harry and Meghan deemed the verdict a big moment due to the shift in accountability for tech companies.

“Today’s verdict in Los Angeles and yesterday’s ruling in New Mexico are landmark victories for families, advocates, and young people everywhere,” they said, adding that “justice has caught up to Big Tech.”

“The harm isn’t in parenting, it’s in product design,” they said, arguing that the systems behind social media platforms were “built to exploit, not protect.”

Both companies have pushed back on the ruling. Representatives for Meta and its parent company Google further said they were reviewing legal options, adding that mental health issues cannot be reduced to a single platform.

"We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options," a Meta spokesperson said. "Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app."

A Google spokesman also called out the legal decision, saying, "This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media."

The couple has long spoken publicly about the dangers social media through their foundation, recently renamed Archewell Philanthropies, which advocates for children and teens’ mental health.