Harry and Meghan demand action to protect children from social media abuse after US Senate hearing
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 following a Congressional hearing in Washington on online harms to children.
Prince Harry and Meghan expressed solidarity with families calling for greater safeguarding for children on social media after the bosses of Meta, TikTok and others were grilled over the dangers faced by youngsters on their platforms by a Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday.
The Senate was packed with families of children and advocates, with the senator Lindsey Graham stating the audience was "the largest I've seen in this room". He accused firms of "destroying lives".
"I know you don't mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands," he told the tech bosses.
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg told families whose lives were torn apart by social media that he is “sorry for everything they’ve gone through” at the packed hearing.
Following the meeting, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a statement hailing “the bravery and determination of the thousands of parents around the country whose advocacy resulted in this hearing”.
They added: “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.
"This is an issue that transcends division and party lines, as we saw today at the Senate hearing. The best parenting in the world cannot keep children safe from these platforms. As one of the fathers shared with us: ‘If love could have saved them, all of our children would still be here.'"
Mr Zuckerberg and other social media bosses were heavily scrutinised during heated exchanges in Congress.
Josh Hawley, a Republican senator, asked Mr Zuckerberg whether he had paid compensation or apologised to grieving families. Mr Zuckerberg stood up, turned towards the group holding pictures of their loved ones, and said he was "sorry for everything that you all have gone through".
Also in attendance were Linda Yaccarino of X, Shou Zi Chew of TikTok, Evan Spiegel of Snap and Jason Citron of Discord.
Mr Spiegel, the chief executive of Snapchat’s parent company Snap, apologised to those whose children had died from fentanyl overdoses after purchasing drugs through its social network, saying: "I'm so sorry that we have not been able to prevent these tragedies."
The hearing took place against a backdrop of failed efforts, despite bipartisan agreement, to pass laws in the US to force child safety measures on the companies and remove the protection from liability they enjoy under the law dubbed "section 230".