Prince Harry blasts social media 'brainwashing' – as Brussels audience keeps scrolling

Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Tuesday backed the European Union's campaign to protect children from online harassment during a visit to the European Parliament in Brussels. Harry accused social media companies of failing to make their platforms safer, leaving children exposed to online harassment and bullying, sometimes with We can no longer sit here and wait for thousands more children. to lose their lives and thousands more parents, millions more parents to have their children's lives changed forever. So I will finish with saying that this whole mission has to be about safety by design. By the time that it's on the phone, in an app, in a kid's hands, it's already too late. Know that. And there's no reason why this industry should be treated any differently from any other industry. Harry defended a strong approach to regulate social media, defining the current widespread addiction they create as brainwashing on an extraordinary scale. Harry also praised the proposed EU Kids Act, which aims to strengthen protections for children online for shifting the burden of responsibility from parents to social media companies. The EU Kids Act includes measures to delay children's access to social media, introduce age verification checks and strengthen default safety protections, including restrictions on addictive features.