The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, stated during an event in Melbourne focusing on the harms of social media that for 10 years she was the 'most trolled person in the entire world' online. Speaking alongside the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, she alleged that she was 'bullied' every day for a decade and criticized tech companies for supposedly not being 'incentivised to stop' the misuse of their platforms.
The couple is in Australia on a four-day tour as non-working royals and used a meeting on Thursday with mental health program representatives to voice their support for the country's social media ban for children under 16. Prince Harry personally called the ban 'epic' from a 'responsibility and leadership standpoint', though he added that 'it should have never, ever got to a ban'.
In her remarks, Meghan told the audience: 'When I think of all of you and what you're experiencing, I think so much of that is having to realise that you know that industry, that billion-dollar industry, that is completely anchored and predicated on cruelty to get clicks - that's not going to change. So you have to be stronger than that.' Prince Harry echoed her criticism, claiming that tech companies 'have to be accountable, and there's no way that young people should be punished by being banned from something that should be safe to use, no matter what'.
On the third day of the tour, the couple joined an Aboriginal cultural walking tour called the Scar Tree Walk. Led by local Indigenous guides, they walked along the Birrarung, the traditional name for Melbourne's Yarra River, viewed an art installation, and learned how traditional owners used the river and surrounding lands for fishing and hunting. Tom Mosby, CEO of the Koorie Heritage Trust, told the BBC that this part of the tour was about the couple seeing 'what actually lies under the city'.
Some local residents and visitors encountered the couple during the walk. Brazilian tourist Sofia Rocha described them as 'the most gorgeous couple', while local resident Narelle Zagami called the meeting 'very emotional'. When asked about criticism of the couple making money during their trip as private citizens, Zagami reportedly said: 'They've got to make a living as well. It's part of their life now, this sort of thing, so I think it's good.' Prince Harry and Meghan's last visit to Australia was in 2018, a few months after their marriage.
Source: www.bbc.com