Even though Meghan Markle’s long-term legacy at the palace might be inspiring the communications office to be more creative in their use of social media, she and husband Prince Harry aren’t particularly fond of it themselves. Ever since moving to California earlier this year, the couple has used some of their newfound freedom to advocate against hate speech and misinformation online. Over the summer, they teamed up with the racial justice nonprofit Color of Change on their campaign Stop Hate for Profit, and behind the scenes, Meghan and Harry called business leaders to discuss Facebook’s moderation strategies. In an interview Wednesday, Meghan spoke about just how deep her dislike for social media runs, comparing it to an addiction.
“There are very few things in this world where you call the person who’s engaging with it ‘a user,’” she said in a conversation with Fortune’s Emma Hinchliffe. “People who are addicted to drugs are called users and people who are on social media are called users.”
She also spoke about her personal decision to avoid having her own social media accounts, even though she did use one for royal work. “For my own self-preservation, I have not been on social media for a very long time,” she said. “I had a personal account years ago, which I closed down, and then we had one through the institution and our office that was in the U.K. that wasn’t managed by us—that was a whole team—and so I think that comes with the territory for the job you have.”
“I have a lot of concerns for people that have become obsessed with it,” she added. “And it is so much a part of our daily culture for so many people that it’s an addiction like many others. There are very few things in this world where you call the person who is engaging with it a user.”
The interview took place as a part of the Fortune Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit, which was invitation-only and had a registration fee of $1,750, according to Business Insider, though the magazine later shared clips from Meghan’s fifteen-minute appearance on their social media accounts. In an August interview, Harry said that focusing on the harms of social media would be a main focus of Archewell, his and Meghan’s new charity venture that saw its official launch delayed by the pandemic. Even when Meghan and Harry have discussed the upcoming election, they have continued to reiterate how important social media is to understanding the world’s political divides.
Meghan also spoke about how being a mother has changed her attitude about activism. “You go every single day, ‘how can I make this world better for Archie?’ That is a shared belief for my husband and I,” she said. “At the same time, I am cautious of putting my family at risk by certain things. I try to be very clear in what I say and not get controversial and instead talk about things that seem very straightforward, like exercising your right to vote.” Considering that Meghan and Harry did get some pushback even for her nonpartisan involvement in the 2020 election, her reticence is understandable.
She didn’t give any updates on how the planning is coming for Archewell, but she did say she is excited for what is coming next. “There’s a lot that I’m excited about—certainly in creating programming and content that is conscious and inspiring and has a call to action and is uplifting,” she said. “I’m excited to be back home in the States.hopefully as things start to open up a bit more with COVID, just to be back and engaging and interacting with people in a different way and in a way that will allow me to roll my sleeves up and really be boots on the ground back at home.”
