‘Shouldn’t have come to this’: Harry and Meghan speak out about Australia’s social media ban
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have addressed Australia’s social media ban, praising the movement with a massive “but”.
While the teens are a little grumpy in Australia right now, two high profile people have come out singing our country’s praises for the recent social media ban for children under 16 years.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have issued a formal statement about their thoughts on the government-imposed age limits on apps such as Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram via their Archewell Foundation website.
The bold statement is posted with a strong headline that insists “It shouldn’t have come to this.”
“We celebrate Australia’s leadership for seeing and acting on how these technology companies are negatively impacting young people with little to no recourse or accountability, and feeble efforts from the companies to stem the flow of harms,” it reads.
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“This bold, decisive action to protect children at a critical moment in their development sends a strong signal that a child’s mind is not a commodity to be exploited. It buys young people valuable time back in their childhoods, but it doesn’t fix the fundamental issue we all still face with social media platforms.”
For the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, with two of their own children they fiercely try and protect from public harm and through their own work with their charitable foundation, this hits personally.
“We’ve heard from too many grieving parents. Too many families devastated by cyber-bullying, feeds that radicalise kids toward self-harm, and algorithmic manipulation designed to maximise engagement at any cost. There is too much loss of life and livelihood. Children currently have no right to privacy and no expectation of safety, and they’ve been hooked,” they wrote.
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“Young people know they will live their lives with these platforms whether it’s now or later in life. They are calling for technology that is safe by default and design, not as a reaction to avoidable, sometimes fatal, harm. They are rightly concerned about how age-restrictions will be enforced and whether it will create new opportunities for their lives to be surveilled. The companies ‘unintended consequences’ of a decade ago are now part of their money making strategy, and children have become their collateral.”
The former senior royals ended the post with sharing their own “hope” that Australia has begun a movement that filter through other countries.
“We hope this ban is only the start of a reckoning between society and the tech companies that built these platforms with growth as their first principle instead of safety,” they said.
“The world is watching to see if they’ll finally take responsibility and make the changes the world so desperately need.”
Yes, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was sure that the world would be watching when Aussie kids were hit with the ban on December 10th.
“It is one of the biggest social and cultural changes that our nation has faced,” he said during a press conference earlier in the week.
“It’s a profound reform which will continue to reverberate around the world in coming months, to assist not just this generation, but generations to come.”
Tech giants will be slapped with a hefty $49.5 million fine if they’re seen to be in breach of the new regulations.
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Originally published as ‘Shouldn’t have come to this’: Harry and Meghan speak out about Australia’s social media ban
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