Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Said There's a "Global Crisis" of Online Hate

"This is a human problem," Meghan said.

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wellington, nz october 28 prince harry, duke of sussex and meghan, duchess of sussex lay ferns and a wreath at the tomb of the unknown warrior at the newly unveiled uk war memorial and pukeahu national war memorial park, on october 28, 2018, in wellington, new zealand the duke and duchess of sussex are on their official 16 day autumn tour visiting cities in australia, fiji, tonga and new zealand photo by rosa woods poolgetty images
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  • Meghan Markle and Prince Harry hosted their own edition of TIME100 Talks Tuesday, and spoke about establishing safer, kinder online communities.
  • Speaking about hate and abuse on online platforms, Harry said, "This is a global crisis: a global crisis of hate, a global crisis of misinformation and a global health crisis."
  • "This is a human problem. And what’s happening to all of us online is affecting us deeply offline," Meghan said.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry continued their work towards improving the online world Tuesday, speaking about hate and abuse on digital platforms during their own edition of TIME100 Talks. Centring on the subject of "Engineering a Better World," the Sussexes discussed creating safer online communities, talking with TIME editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal as well as guests including Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry co-director Safiya U. Noble, and the hosts of podcast Teenager Therapy, on which they recently guested. 

"What our job is, especially throughout these conversations, is to get people to listen to the experts and for them to explain how what’s happening in the online world is affecting the world," Harry commented. "It is not restricted to certain platforms or certain social media conversations. This is a global crisis: a global crisis of hate, a global crisis of misinformation and a global health crisis."

"This isn’t just a tech problem. This isn’t solely a mental health or emotional wellbeing problem," Meghan reflected. "This is a human problem. And what’s happening to all of us online is affecting us deeply offline."

The Duchess of Sussex also spoke about the importance of the digital world in the advocacy work the couple are undertaking, across issues including the empowerment of women and girls, the environment, and mental health. "Both of us realized that we can continue to champion these things that we’re passionate about. We can continue to do this work to try to effect change and help the people who need it most or the communities or environments that need it most," she said.

"But it’s almost like you’re taking two steps forward and five steps backward if you can’t get to the root cause of the problem," Meghan continued. "Which at this point right now we see in a large way as a lot of what’s happening in the tech space."

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Emily Dixon
Emily Dixon
Morning Editor

Emily Dixon is a British journalist who’s contributed to CNN, Teen Vogue, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Wonderland, The Big Roundtable, Bust, and more, on everything from mental health to fashion to political activism to feminist zine collectives. She’s also a committed Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and Tracee Ellis Ross fan, an enthusiastic but terrible ballet dancer, and a proud Geordie lass.