Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have welcomed a 'reckoning' for social media giants after a US court found Meta and Google liable for a woman's childhood social media addiction.
Jurors in California ruled that Google, owner of YouTube, and Meta, which operates Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, built platforms to hook young users without regard for their well-being.
The lawsuit saw a 20-year-old woman, referred to only as Kaley, argue a childhood addiction to social media platforms had exacerbated her mental health issues.
After more than 40 hours of deliberation across nine days, jurors concluded the tech giants were negligent with their platforms, a verdict that could influence the outcomes of thousands of similar cases which accuse social media firms of causing harm.
'A reckoning': Harry and Meghan welcome major verdict
Following the ruling on Wednesday the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who have been outspoken in their condemnation of the negative impact of social media platforms, hailed the outcome as a victory for children's safety.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex said: 'This verdict is a reckoning. 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.
'Let this be the change - where our children's safety is finally prioritised above profit.'
Jurors listened to about a month of lawyers' arguments, testimony and evidence, and they heard from Kaley, as well as Meta leaders Mark Zuckerberg and Adam Mosseri. YouTube's CEO, Neal Mohan, was not called in to testify.
Jury awards $6M in landmark social media case
Kaley told jurors that her near-constant social media use 'really affected my self-worth,' saying the apps led her to abandon hobbies, struggle to make friends and constantly measure herself against others.
In closing arguments, plaintiff attorney Mark Lanier cast the case as a story of corporate greed. He argued that features on the apps were engineered to drive compulsive use among young people.
But the tech giants maintained throughout the trial that Kaley's mental health struggles had nothing to do with their platforms.
The jury recommended Kaley be awarded $6million dollars (£4.4million) in damages. Both Meta and Google disagreed with the verdict and confirmed they were planning to appeal.
Before the verdict was announced, a spokesman for Meghan and Harry said the trial had already been a 'turning point' for big tech firms.
They added: 'It has forced some of the most powerful companies on earth to reveal what's behind the curtain and to answer, in public and on the record, for choices that shaped an entire generation's daily life.'
A Meta spokesman said 'teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app', while Google said the verdict misunderstood YouTube, 'which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site'.
Snapchat and TikTok were also named defendants in the lawsuit, but each settled before the trial started.
The California decision came a day after a New Mexico jury found Meta liable under state consumer protection law for misleading the public about the safety of its platforms and failing to protect children.
The duke and duchess have long campaigned to raise awareness about the harms of social media, with Harry criticising the 'lawlessness' within the industry in a podcast interview in October.
In 2025, Harry and Meghan called for stronger protections for children online after unveiling a memorial in New York City to young people who lost their lives due to the harmful effects of social media.
Harry, speaking at a Project Healthy Minds event in New York City in October, claimed that the digital world has 'fundamentally changed how we experience reality'.
Starmer vows tougher action on social media harms
The Sussexes' Archewell Foundation also began its Parents' Network initiative as a support system for parents of children affected by online harm.
Following the ruling, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was 'very keen' for the Government to 'do more on addictive features within social media'.
Asked if the trial pointed to a shift in public mood with expectation of more aggressive regulation, Sir Keir told reporters: 'I think it does, and obviously we'll study that ruling very carefully, but I'm absolutely clear that we need to go further.
'The status quo isn't good enough. We need to do more to protect children. That's why we're consulting about issues such as banning social media for under-16s.
'I'm very keen that we do more on addictive features within social media.
'We've already taken the powers so that when we get to the end of the consultation, we don't have to wait years to implement this.
'But I want to be really clear, it's not if things are going to change, things are going to change. The question is, how much and what are we going to do?
'And that's what we're working on. I'll be saying some more about this tomorrow.'