Meghan Markle delivered a powerful speech while in Geneva, Switzerland over the weekend on the impact of online bullying on children.
The Duchess of Sussex attended the inauguration ceremony for The Lost Screen Memorial on Geneva’s Place des Nations, ahead of the opening of the 79th World Health Assembly. She was joined by World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, global health leaders, ministers and other families affected by online harm.
Hosted by the World Health Organization and Archewell Philanthropies, the installation features fifty illuminated lightboxes, each displaying the lock screen image of a child who lost their life as a result of online violence and digital harm. Meghan also opted for a look to match the somber occasion, a black pantsuit and her hair tied into a tight bun.
“Behind me stands The Lost Screen Memorial,” the mother-of-two started. “Not statistics. Not avatars. Not data points. Children. Each name belonged to a child who was loved beyond measure. A child whose laughter once filled a kitchen. Whose shoes once waited by a front door. Whose future once felt limitless.”
She continued: “Now their faces ask the world questions we can no longer avoid: How many more millions of children will be harmed by products that, while innovative, are still designed without sufficient safeguards? When will children be able to enjoy the extraordinary potential of technology without it compromising their wellbeing?”
Meghan expanded upon the role of addictive online behavior in the declining mental health of children, as one of the figures behind the Parents’ Network which is dedicated to just this cause. “Because children today are being shaped by systems designed to capture attention at any cost: relentless algorithms, exploitative engagement, and endless exposure to harmful content that they are not seeking out.”
© Getty ImagesShe shared a few stories of youth who’d tragically taken their own lives or been directly harmed by the messaging delivered by social media and internet algorithms. “But these outcomes are not inevitable. And prevention begins with one simple principle: Children must be safe by design, not safe by chance.”
Meghan then mentioned another parent who was in the crowd, Amy Neville. “Amy lost her 14-year-old son, Alexander – a child targeted through a platform engineered for engagement, not protection. Today, she is here not only as a mother, but as an advocate and activist – working to ensure that no other family has to experience the same loss.”
© Getty Images“Will we look back on this moment as one where, through collective action, the design of technology shifted – towards safety, dignity, and well-being? Or will we accept more names added to memorials like this? Because if an adult is barely able to survive the bullying and predation of the online world and the dangers that these platforms can bring, how is a child?”
She issued a call to action at the end for parents, by setting the example themselves for social media usage, writing to their elected representatives to put laws into place that protect their children from the world of online harm, and join parents and other campaigners in child safety.
© Getty Images“Let our children look back at this moment, and let them feel proud of us – that we chose something better – for them, and for us all,” she concluded.
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