Harry and Meghan release video of Duchess telling families of child victims of cyberbullying ‘we all just want to feel safe’ as couple fronts campaign calling for ‘urgent change in the online space’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have released a new video of them calling on social media companies to reduce the amount of harmful content children can see online.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex last night released the clip of their performance at a World Mental Health Day event in New York on October 10 last year.

They posted the video on their Archewell website after a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on online child safety took place in Washington yesterday, which saw politicians warning social media giants: ‘You have blood on your hands’.

In the video, Meghan says: ‘When the car was first invented, there was no seat belt. And what happened? People started getting hurt, people started dying. So you started changing the car.’

Harry adds: ‘We need to get out of this idea that young children, there’s something wrong with them. No, it is the world we allow to be created around them. Don’t send content to children that you don’t want your own children to see.’

And Meghan then says: ‘Everyone is now affected by the online world and social media. There is an entry point that is positive and creative community, but we all just want to feel safe.’

The couple said the hearing on online child safety took place ‘in front of a packed room, including dozens of parents whose children have suffered or died from online harm’.

They added that their Archewell Foundation has “worked with many of these families to provide a support network for parents dealing with grief or who have children dealing with serious mental health issues as a result of their exposure to harmful online content”.

In a joint statement accompanying the video on their website, the Sussexes said: ‘We applaud the bravery and determination of the thousands of parents around the country whose advocacy resulted in this hearing.

‘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 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 protect children from these platforms.

‘As one of the fathers told us: ‘If love could have saved them, all our children would still be here.’

‘This is not the time to pass on responsibility. It’s time to make the necessary changes at the source to keep our children safe.’

The video dates back to October 10, when the Sussexes called on social media companies to reduce the amount of harmful content children can see online to protect their mental health.

Harry and Meghan made the remarks at a mental health awareness festival run by the not-for-profit project Healthy Minds in New York.

The royal couple, who have spoken about their own mental health issues, took part in a panel discussion alongside US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy moderated by NBC host Carson Daly, who has previously spoken about his struggles with anxiety.

The event, on World Mental Health Day, was coordinated by the Duke and Duchess’ Archewell Foundation.

The pair called on social media companies to adopt better content moderation policies and adapt apps that could prove addictive to young people.

They spoke out after hearing from parents who have lost children to mental health issues linked to social media use.

The Duke urged tech bosses to ‘stop sending content to children that you wouldn’t want your own children to see’.

The Duchess said she and her husband are focusing on what they can do behind the scenes to make the use of social media ‘safer, better and more positive’, and that the couple have spoken to tech bosses about the issue.

She added: ‘People get hurt – and people, especially children, die.

‘A year ago we met some of the families, not all of them. At that time it was impossible not to be in tears as I’m sure so many of you have heard these stories today.

“As parents, our kids are really young – they’re two and a half and four and a half – but social media isn’t going away.

“I think, by design, there’s an entry point that’s supposed to be positive, in creating community, and something has been decentralized, and there’s no way to hear that and not try to help these families get their stories heard.’

In Britain on the same day, the Princess of Wales gave a speech to young people gathered in Birmingham for a day of workshops and discussions to mark World Mental Health Day, with her husband, Prince William, in the audience.

It comes as US politicians last night warned social media giants they ‘have blood on their hands’ – as the bosses of Meta, TikTok and others grilled over the dangers children face on their platforms.

Testifying before senators and the families of children who died after being bullied or abused online, they were told, ‘You have a product that kills people.’

The US government is trying to push through online safety laws amid concerns that websites are rife with child exploitation.

Reports have consistently highlighted the risks to young users, such as algorithms connecting teenagers with pedophiles.

Among those testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday were the chief executives of X, Snapchat and TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew.

But the most powerful fire was focused on Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, who runs Facebook and Instagram.

Meta is currently facing a major lawsuit brought by 40 US states that jointly accuse it of alleged failures to protect its youngest users.

Prosecutors say newly declassified internal documents show the firm knew its algorithms were putting children at risk, even though it publicly claimed they were safe.

Yesterday, Senator Richard Blumenthal highlighted how in 2021 Zuckerberg had turned down requests from former UK deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg, then head of global affairs, to hire around 80 staff to tackle harmful content due to concerns about a ‘lack of investment’ .

Senator Blumenthal said estimates showed the move would have cost an estimated £40m – at a time when Meta had made £7bn in just one quarter.

He said: ‘It is an example, from your own internal documents, of failure to act.

‘This is why we can no longer trust Meta – and frankly any of the other social media sites – to judge their own homework.’

Senator Lindsey Graham was applauded in the hearing room when he said: ‘Mr. Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us, I know you don’t think so, but you have blood on your hands. You have a product that kills people.’

At one point, Mr. Zuckerberg stood up and turned to the line of families of victims attending the hearing to apologize for what had happened to their loved ones.

In the UK, social media companies will have to remove illegal content and protect children from harmful material under the Online Safety Act.

If they don’t comply, Ofcom will be able to hand out huge fines – and ultimately send bosses to jail if they still don’t get their act together.

The death of 14-year-old Molly Russell – who took her own life after being bombarded with self-harm and suicide content online – played a major role in pushing the legislation through Parliament.

Last night her father Ian Russell said: ‘Today Mark Zuckerberg showed direct denial of Meta’s role in harming the health and wellbeing of a generation of teenagers.

“Like Big Tobacco decades before, Big Tech is actively evading the industrial harm it is causing young people.”