‘This Is What Accountability Looks Like’: Prince Harry Hails Meta’s $942 Million Child Safety Ruling

Prince Harry is speaking out after a New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay an additional $567 million in fines over claims the company failed to adequately protect children on its social media platforms. The latest ruling brings Meta’s total penalties in the case to $942 million and requires the company to implement sweeping child safety measures.

The Duke of Sussex said the ruling marks a turning point in holding technology companies accountable for the impact their platforms have on young users.

“For years we’ve argued that big tech’s harm to children was a choice, not some inevitable side effect. This is not an accident. It is not a glitch,” Harry, 41, said.

“What we’ve seen in the last 24 hours is what accountability looks like. This is what happens when the law finally catches up to decisions made in boardrooms, product meetings, and algorithm reviews decisions that put social media engagement ahead of safety,” he continued.

“The bar has moved, and every platform still choosing engagement over safety should take notice. Change cannot wait another day,” he said.

The Largest Child Safety Ruling Against a Social Media Giant

The landmark case against Meta unfolded in two phases before Judge Bryan Biedscheid in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In Phase 1, a jury found that Meta committed 75,000 violations of New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act and imposed the maximum civil penalty allowed under law: $375 million.

In Phase 2, the court went further. Judge Biedscheid ruled that Meta’s platforms constitute a “public nuisance” in New Mexico, the first time a court has held that a social media company can be sued, tried, and held financially and structurally accountable for building products that endanger children. The judge compared Meta to a factory, with advertising and content as its product and “the psychological harm and sexual exploitation of children to be the pollution that must be abated”.

New Mexico’s district attorney accused Meta of knowingly allowing its platforms to harm young users and enable child sexual exploitation. In his ruling, Judge Biedscheid said the company should be treated like pollution “that must be abated”.

What the Ruling Requires

The financial penalties total $942 million** a sum that, while significant, represents a small fraction of Meta’s approximately $60 billion annual profit in 2025. Of the latest $567 million ruling, about **$420 million will fund “appropriate clinical or other behavioral health programs and professionals” to help treat harm already caused by the platforms.

Beyond the money, the court ordered extensive reforms that will remain in effect for five years:

• Monthly time-use limits for users under 18

• Restrictions on notifications during overnight hours for minors

• Measures preventing adults from contacting users under 18 whom they do not know

• Default privacy protections for minors, including hiding public “like” counts

• Enhanced protections against sextortion and child sexual exploitation

• More rigorous age verification for New Mexico users

• Semiannual public compliance reports to the court documenting progress

The court also ordered Meta to fund a statewide education and public awareness campaign and provide specialized training for New Mexico law enforcement investigating internet crimes against children.

A Pattern of Advocacy

Harry and Meghan Markle have long made online safety a central focus of their work through Archewell Philanthropies. One of the foundation’s key initiatives, the Parents’ Network, supports families whose children have been harmed by online platforms and connects them with others who have experienced similar losses.

Earlier this year, Harry met with families pursuing legal action against social media platforms. In a video shared by the BBC at the time, he thanked the families for continuing to share their experiences:

“Thank you for doing everything that you’ve done. Thank you for telling your stories over and over again. Truth, justice and accountability those are the three things that will come from this.”

The couple has also highlighted the issue through public campaigns, including last year’s Lost Screen Memorial in New York City. Created in partnership with families from Archewell’s Parents’ Network, the installation featured 50 smartphones displaying photos of children whose lives were lost due to the harmful effects of social media.

“These are families that we have been working with for several years,” Meghan said at the event. “No matter how polarized the world is, or what people may or may not agree on, one thing that we can all agree on is that our children should be safe.”

Meta’s Response and the Road Ahead

In a statement shared with PEOPLE, a Meta spokesperson said:

“We disagree with the ruling and will appeal. We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content. We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts”.

Meta’s legal challenges extend beyond the New Mexico case. The company is also preparing for a federal trial later this month in Oakland, California, where it will face the first four of 29 states that sued the company in 2023, alleging it knowingly designed addictive features on Instagram and Facebook that contributed to the youth mental health crisis. Eight states also filed separate lawsuits in their own courts, including Tennessee, where a trial is currently underway.

The latest ruling comes just months after a Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube liable for negligence in a landmark social media addiction case, ordering the companies to pay $3 million in compensatory damages. At the time, Harry and Meghan called the decision a “reckoning” for tech companies.

A Blueprint for Other States

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the ruling sends an unmistakable message that companies will be held accountable when their product designs knowingly put children at risk.

“For the first time, a court has ruled that a social media giant can be held liable for building products that endanger children, and has ordered the structural changes needed to fix it,” Torrez said. “New Mexico led the way in the courtroom. It is a blueprint other states, and other countries confronting this same crisis, can now follow”.