Prince Harry hopes his children 'never have to experience' current social media climate
Prince Harry called for new laws to protect children from social media on Monday.
The Duke of Sussex made a virtual appearance at the 5Rights Foundation's Global Child Online Safety Toolkit webinar to speak out about the harmful effects of social media on children.
Harry clarified that his three-year-old son Archie and 11-month-old daughter Lilibet are too young for social media, but he is looking toward the future.
"As parents, my wife (Meghan) and I are concerned about the next generation growing up in a world where they are treated as digital experiments for companies to make money and where things like hatred and harm are somehow normalised. We want our children and all children to feel empowered to speak up," he shared.
Prince Harry described his children as "still at their age of innocence", adding, "Sometimes, I feel like I can keep them away from the online harm that they could face in the future forever, but I'm learning to know better."
While reiterating that much of social media "isn't working and needs to be fixed", Harry detailed that it is made to "pull us in, keep us scrolling, get us angry or anxious - or make us numb to the world around us."
He explained, "I'm not an expert on law or technology, but I am a father - and I'm lucky enough to be a father with a platform. My kids are too young to have experienced the online world yet, and I hope they never have to experience it as it exists now. No kid should have to."
