Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Discuss Online Bullying in Rare Joint Interview
“All you want to do as parents is protect them.”
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide please call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text TALK to 741741 or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sat down for a rare joint interview to discuss the very serious issue of online bullying.
On Thursday, Aug. 1, CBS Sunday Morning released a clip of an upcoming interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who both discussed their mission to protect their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, from potentially dangerous and harmful online content.
"Our kids are young—they're 3 and 5. They're amazing," Markle told CBS Sunday Morning''s Jane Pauly. "But all you want to do as parents is protect them. So as we can see what's happening in the online space, we know that there's a lot of work to be done there, and we're just happy to be able to be a part of change for good."
In the clip, Pauly tells the couple that as parents "you would hope that when your children ask for help that there is someone there to give it."
"If you know how to help," Prince Harry interjected.
"At this point we’ve got to the stage where almost every parent needs to be a first responder," Prince Harry continued. "And even the best first responders in the world wouldn’t be able to tell the signs of possible suicide.
"That is the terrifying piece of this," the Duke added.
In 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released an advisory titled Social Media and Youth Mental Health, which highlighted evidence that social media is actively harming young people's mental health. In addition, the American Psychological Association (APA) released it's own health advisory, also warning the public to the potential harm of prolonged social media use.
In 2024, Dr. Murthy called for a surgeon general’s warning label on social media platforms, The New York Times reported at the time. Congress would be required to implement the warning label, and no significant action has been taken since Dr. Murphy's public request.
In 2023, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex spoke candidly about social media use and how it can and is actively harming young people's mental and emotional health. Prince Harry even called on social media companies to better their content-moderation policies to protect their users.
“For us, the priority here is to turn pain into purpose,” Prince Harry said during a panel discussion coordinated by the couple's Archewell Foundation. The panel, held in New York City, was part of the second annual mental health awareness festival hosted by the nonprofit, Project Healthy Minds, and featured parents who had lost their children to suicide as a result of online bullying.
“People are getting hurt," Markle added. "And people, specifically children, are dying."
According to a recent report from the APA, more than 20% of teens have seriously considered dying by suicide. In a report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a growing number of students say they feel "persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness," including 57% of teen girls and 69% of LGBTQ+ students.
The complete interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will air on CBS Sunday Morning on August 4.
