The Duke of Sussex has warned that children are being “force fed” mindless content by powerful social media companies that “refuse to change”.
In a passionate speech at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, he warned that young people were being “targeted” and that digital platforms must be held accountable.
“Why are we holding them to the lowest ethical standards?” he asked.
“We were promised a human experience. Instead, we’ve been a human experiment.”
The danger posed by social media has become one of the Duke’s key campaigning issues in recent years, the subject of various interviews, opinion pieces and panel discussions.
However, his emotive address in New York, live streamed around the globe, is thought to have been his first solo speech on the topic.
The Duke paced across the stage, microphone in hand, as he urged people to join forces to stand up against “insanely powerful” social media companies and the “pervasive threat” posed by the digital world.
He took his phone from his jacket pocket and said: “My lock screen is a picture of my kids. What’s yours?”
Prince Harry with his phone out
Images of young people depicted on mobile phone lock screens appeared on the large screen behind him as he went on: “These children and thousands more meant the world to their families. Their beautiful faces you see before you, their smiles, their dreams, all lost, all too soon, and all because of social media.”
The lock screens featuring young people behind Prince Harry
Getty/Alex Kent
The Duke raised a laugh as he said: “Some say kids will be kids and well, that may well be true, kids may get into trouble. I know a thing or two about that.”
But he added: “Our kids are being targeted. The harmful effects of social media are made by design…
“Why do the leaders of these insanely powerful social media companies still refuse to change?
“If corporations unabashedly lack responsibility, it doesn’t mean we should do the same.”
The Duke opened his speech by listing previously “unimaginable” human achievements such as the launch of Sputnik, Yuri Gagarin’s journey into space and the first moon landing.
He ended by saying: “This is an invitation to each and every one of you to open your eyes, ears and hearts to these realities and to channel our power, resources and intelligence toward meaningful action.
“All we have today, in this moment, stems from the defiance of boundaries we once thought existed. We split the atom. We’ve walked on the moon. We are more than equipped to tackle this. The future of our world and our youth depend on it. We all just need to want it enough, and I know that I do.”
