Prince Harry and Meghan have been strong advocates for mental health and putting an end to online bullying and harassment. Indeed, the couple has often been the subject of many online trolls, speculating about the state of their relationship.
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At the 2024 DealBook Summit, the Duke of Sussex addressed the trolls and the rumours about his marriage to Meghan. Moreover, back in 2022, Prince Harry explained that he and Meghan try to protect their children from social media.
Recently the couple hit out against Meta, which is run and owned by Mark Zuckerberg, due to the changes in their policies concerning fact-checking. According to a PR expert, this statement could cause ‘repercussions’ with Donald Trump.
Meta changed its policies
As reported by The Guardian, Mark Zuckerberg has changed Meta’s fact-checking policies. The changed policies mean that Facebook, Instagram, and Threads users can call transgender people ‘it’ and allow calling those in the LGBTQ+ community ‘mentally ill’.
Per the guidelines:
We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation.
As per The Independent, these changes are viewed as a way to appease Donald Trump. Following Mark Zuckerberg’s decision, Prince Harry and Meghan released a statement on their website.
The couple believes that this decision should ‘deeply concern us all’ and that it ‘directly undermines free speech’.
It doesn’t matter whether your views are left, right, or somewhere in between—the latest news from Meta about changes to their policies directly undermines free speech.
They added that ‘allowing more abuse and normalising hate speech’ will not help develop speech and expression. They also claimed that these new policies will ‘prioritise those using the platforms to spread hate, lies, and division’.
Finally, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex urged Meta to ‘reconsider’ its new policy, as per The Independent:
We urge Meta to reconsider and reinstate policies to protect all users.
Prince Harry and Meghan’s statement could cause ‘repercussions’
Following the couple’s statement, PR expert Nick Ede spoke with Newsweek. He explained to the media outlet that Prince Harry and Meghan’s stance could result in a ‘repercussion’ with Donald Trump.
He claimed that the President-elect will ‘see this as a battle’ and will likely ‘target them’ in order to win. He told Newsweek:
Unfortunately, there could be a repercussion from this, especially with Trump, you know, poking this ginormous bear and not expecting something back from it.
Trump will see this as a battle he wants to win and potentially will target them in whatever way he does it.
Concerning potential repercussions, upsetting Trump could directly affect Prince Harry. Indeed, for the past year, there has been an ongoing debate over the Prince’s visa application, which The Heritage Foundation believes should be made public.
This debate started after the father-of-two published his memoir and revealed he had taken drugs. Nick Ede added:
We know how Trump is and he has said he is looking to see how Prince Harry, having taken drugs, was able to get citizenship in the U.S.
This is quite incendiary in that respect because we know Trump is not a fan of theirs and this could be a way to negatively affect them.
I don't think this is the last of this and I don't think it will stop.
Read more:
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Sources used:
The Guardian: ‘Meta’s changes to policing will lead to clash with EU and UK, say experts’
The Independent: ‘Meghan Markle and Prince Harry take aim at Mark Zuckerberg over ‘harmful’ Meta change’
Newsweek: ‘Donald Trump May 'Target' Harry and Meghan After Statement’
