Yahoo Movies Prince Harry says social media is a serious threat to democracy
Prince Harry has once again revealed his deep concerns around the impact of social media in an interview with Fast Company following the Capitol attack in the US.
Stating that “time is running out” for social media companies to handle the vast misinformation that is so easily spread online, the royal stated he believed it’s a serious threat to democracy.
“There is no way to downplay this," he said. "There was a literal attack on democracy in the United States, organised on social media, which is an issue of violent extremism."
“It is widely acknowledged that social media played a role in the genocide in Myanmar and was used as a vehicle to incite violence against the Rohingya people, which is a human rights issue.
“And in Brazil, social media provided a conduit for misinformation which ultimately brought destruction to the Amazon, which is an environmental and global health issue.
“In a way, taking a predominately hands-off approach to problems for so long is itself an exercise in power.”
Calling for direct accountability, the 36-year-old went on to say that “we are losing loved ones to conspiracy theories, losing a sense of self because of the barrage of mistruths, and at the largest scale, losing our democracies”.
He added: “The answer I’ve heard from experts in this space is that the common denominator starts with accountability.
“There has to be accountability to collective wellbeing, not just financial incentive.
“It’s hard for me to understand how the platforms themselves can eagerly take profit but shun responsibility.”
Over the last year, Harry and his wife, Meghan, have spoken candidly about how social media has negatively impacted their lives, and the royal shed light on it once again during his interview with Fast Company.
"I was really surprised to witness how my story had been told one way, my wife’s story had been told one way, and then our union sparked something that made the telling of that story very different," he said. "That false narrative became the mothership for all of the harassment you’re referring to. It wouldn’t have even begun had our story just been told truthfully."
He continued: "But the important thing about what we experienced is that it led to us hearing from so many others around the world. We’ve thought a lot about those in much more vulnerable positions than us, and how much of a need there is for real empathy and support.
"To their own degree, everyone has been deeply affected by the current consequences of the digital space. It could be as individual as seeing a loved one go down the path of radicalisation or as collective as seeing the science behind the climate crisis denied."
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