Prince Harry slams social media ‘crisis of hate’ as he and Meghan Markle call businesses urging them to stop advertising
PRINCE Harry and Meghan Markle have called businesses telling them to stop advertising on social media.
Harry slammed social media, saying it was creating a "crisis of hate" and dividing society.
⚠️ Read our Meghan and Harry blog for the latest news on the Royal couple.
He said the impact of social media was particularly concerning to him "as a father".
"Companies that purchase online ads must also recognise that our digital world has an impact on the physical world - on our collective health, on our democracies, on the ways we think and interact with each other, on how we process and trust information," he wrote in an opinion piece for .
"Because, if we are susceptible to the coercive forces in digital spaces, then we have to ask ourselves - what does this mean for our children? As a father, this is especially concerning to me."
Harry pleaded with business-owners to reconsider spending money to advertise on social media.
"The digital landscape is unwell and companies like yours have the chance to reconsider your role in funding and supporting online platforms that have contributed to, stoked, and created the conditions for a crisis of hate, a crisis of health, and a crisis of truth," he wrote.
HARRY HITS THE PHONES
He said he and his wife had started personally calling bosses at big companies about four weeks ago to urge them to stop advertising on social media.
The Duke of Sussex said social media users were paying a "high cost".
"Every time you click they learn more about you. Our information, private data and unknown habits are traded on for advertising space and dollars... in this ever-changing digital world, we are the product," he wrote.
Harry wrote of his "hope" for people to place "community and connection, tolerance and empathy, and joy and kindness above all".
"The internet has enabled us to be joined together. We are now plugged into a vast nervous system that, yes, reflects our good, but too often also magnifies and fuels our bad. We can -and must - encourage these platforms to redesign themselves in a more responsible and compassionate way. The world will feel it, and we will all benefit from it," he wrote.
Harry and Meghan started their campaign at the same time as the Stop Hate for Profit movement began.
Stop Hate for Profit is a campaign that urges businesses to stop advertising on Facebook, arguing boss Mark Zuckerberg needed to do more to stop hate speech on the platform.
LA LIVING
Harry has been heavily involved in activism while in Los Angeles with Meghan and their son Archie during the coronavirus pandemic.
Last month, Harry was slammed as a "carnivore advocating vegetarianism" after urging the travel industry to be better.
The Duke of Sussex, 35, who is worth around £30million and enjoys taking private jets, today called for more green travel - just as TUI announced plans to shut 166 high street shops sparking hundreds of job losses.
Prince Harry said “businesses are hurting significantly” with some “struggling to put food on the table”.
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But instead of addressing widespread job losses and financial ruin across the global industry, he chose to call for environmentally-friendly travel.
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He insisted the air industry needs to “build back better” in a “responsible” way – focusing around greener ways of travelling.
Harry's advice comes despite the fact he has been routinely criticised for his own carbon footprint, with his and Meghan's reportedly at around 26 times that of the average Brit.
