Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s shock plea to US Senate

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry broke royal protocol with an astonishing foray into a Senate hearing on the regulation of social media.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry broke longstanding royal protocol to call on the United States Senate to consider sweeping new laws regulating the use of social media sites like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok.

In a statement and accompanying video, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex weighed in on the Senate Judiciary Committee amid a push to pass new legislation criticised by civil liberty groups as a Trojan Horse that could be co-opted to censor political speech across the internet.

It comes after parents railed at tech CEOs for having “blood on their hands”, with some audibly hissing at Facebook and Instagram boss Mark Zuckerberg during the Senate’s hearing on “Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis”. The Meta boss apologised for the harm caused by his platforms.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry talk to the US Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, about mental health. Picture: Getty Images

Harry and Meghan have been working with parents who addressed Zuckerberg, many of whom have had children exploited or die by suicide, to provide a support network for grief and mental health issues, the Archewell Foundation said in a statement.

“Everyone now is affected by the online world and social media. There is an entry point that’s positive and creative community, but we all just want to feel safe,” Meghan said in the accompanying video, filmed during the 2023 World Mental Health Day.

Prince Harry and Meghan issued a statement after the chief executives of several social media giants gave evidence before the US Senate Judiciary Committee.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry broke royal protocol with an astonishing foray into a Senate hearing on the regulation of social media.

In a joint statement, Ms Markle and Prince Harry applauded the bravery and determination of the parents whose advocacy resulted in the hearing, which also grilled Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, husband of Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr.

“This is not the time to pass the buck of responsibility. It’s the time to make necessary change at the source to keep our children safe,” their statement said.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, grilled by the US Senate Judiciary Committee. Picture: AFP

The Senate committee is responsible for identifying issues and gathering information for legislative review, and is considered a key step in new laws being passed by the US Congress.

While the Kids Online Safety Act has been proposed to require online services to take “reasonable measures” to prevent harm to children, it has been opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as being so broad and vague it could be co-opted to restrict protected political speech.

The Sussexes have been outspoken critics of the way such firms handle child safety.

The ACLU, and the digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation, say the wide-reaching definition of “harm” in the draft legislation could be used as justification to censor politicly divisive yet Constitutionally protected speech around trigging topics like gender, abortion, immigration, or gun rights – key issues discussed ahead of American elections like the upcoming 2024 presidential rematch between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Zuckerberg speaks to parents who have been working with Harry and Meghan. Picture: AFP

In weighing in on the lawmaking process, Harry and Meghan broke the royal family’s protocol of not commenting on political decisions, the long-running practice that has made his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, so beloved across the political spectrum and both sides of the Atlantic.

The breaking of the royal family’s unspoken rule comes amid speculation Meghan has been weighing a run for office in the US Congress. Their willingness to pick a side was telegraphed when Harry addressed the United Nations to compare the US government to Russia invading Ukraine as part of a “global assault on democracy and freedom”.

Meghan tells parents “we just want to be safe” in a video message used to advocacy for new laws regulating social media sites. Picture: Getty Images

He opined that the US was “rolling back Constitutional rights”, in reference to the legal decision on the Roe v Wade abortion precedent by the Supreme Court that returned the Constitutional rights of the states to create their own laws.

Under the US Constitution, the judicial branch of the US Government that interprets the law, the Supreme Court, is of equal importance to the legislative branch that makes the law, Congress, and the executive that enforces it, the White House.

Harry’s suggestion that the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Constitution was an “assault on Democracy” was seen as an attack on its legitimacy of equivalent seriousness as if he attacked the White House or Congress.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have warned that “the best parenting in the world” cannot keep children safe from social media.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have hailed the “bravery and determination” of parents whose kids died after being bullied or abused via social media.

In their statement advocating for new laws, the couple said the “best parenting in the world cannot keep children safe from these platforms”.

“Over the past few years, we have spent time with many of these families, listening to their heartache and their hopes for the urgent change that is needed in the online space,” the statement said.

“This is an issue that transcends division and party lines, as we saw today at the Senate hearing.”

Prince Harry and Meghan expressed solidarity with families calling for greater safeguarding for children on social media.

The Sussexes have long urged social media companies to reduce harmful content presented to children. During last year’s October 10 mental health summit in New York, Meghan compared the dangers of the internet to the impact cars had on society in the early 1900s.

“When the car was first invented, there wasn’t a seatbelt. And what happened? People started to get hurt, people started to die. So you started to change the car,” she said in the video.

Harry added they needed to get out of the idea that there’s something wrong with kids.

“No, it’s the world that we’re allowing to be created around them. Please stop sending children content that you wouldn’t want your own children to see,” he said.

Originally published as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s shock plea to US Senate