Prince Harry Calls For ‘New Laws’ To Protect Children On Social Media: ‘We’re At A Critical Moment’

etcanada.com:

Prince Harry is highlighting the perils children face online and urging new legislative oversight over social media companies.

Speaking at the virtual launch of UK advocacy group 5Rights Foundation’s Child Online Safety Toolkit, the Duke of Sussex, 37, lambasted social media giants for treating children as “digital experiments to make money,” as The Guardian reports. “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,” the father of two said. “We want our children and all children to feel empowered to speak up.” READ MORE: Prince Harry Talks Capitol Attacks, Tabloids And His Future On Social Media “We’re at a critical moment where it will take all of us for children to thrive in the digital world,” he added. “We need new laws.

We need public pressure. We need strong leadership.” Harry went on to voice his support for current legislation being introduced in California, the EU and the UK which all seek to protect children online. READ MORE: Prince Harry Pens Op-Ed Calling For A More Compassionate Social Media Landscape The Prince also seemingly alluded to famed Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen — who last year revealed that the social media firm knew content on its platform was harming young users — when he said research was needed to find out what information tech companies are keeping from the public.

This is not the first time Harry has criticized social media companies. Last year he said that “time was running out” for these corporations to take meaningful action on misinformation that he believes threatens democratic