Prince Harry launches ‘online safety toolkit’ for children: Duke joins Zoom webinar to speak about helping kids ‘flourish’ in digital world
- The Duke of Sussex helped launch toolkit run by the charity 5Rights Foundation
- He spoke during a webinar that was announced by the youth charity last week
- Prince Harry said social media is ‘broken’ as it makes users ‘numb to world’
- It is unknown what fee, if any, Prince Harry received for his virtual appearance
Prince Harry today helped to launch an ‘online safety toolkit’ for children.
The Duke of Sussex, who is currently living in his $14 million mansion in California having stepped back from royal duty last year, spoke in a webinar run by the youth charity 5Rights Foundation.
The event was titled Making Child Online Safety a Reality and saw Harry speak with young people from around the world to discuss what was needed to make child online safety a reality.
Prince Harry said in the event that he hopes his children will ‘never have to experience the internet as it exists now’.
He claimed that the business model of social media companies is doing ‘exactly what it is meant to do. Pull us in, keep us scrolling, make us angry.’
He hopes his children will never have to experience the internet as it exists now
The event also featured speakers from the United Nations, African Union and European Union.
It is unknown what fee, if any, the Duke received for his appearance.
Experts could earn more than £1million each time they make a speech after signing up with an elite agency.
5Rights Foundation described the toolkit as a ‘roadmap for policymakers and practitioners building a digital world that supports children and enables them to flourish, online and beyond.’
5Rights Foundation announced the presence of a ‘special guest’ when they trailed the webinar last week
News of the webinar was first announced by 5Rights last week.
The charity said in a tweet: ‘We’re thrilled that Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex will be joining us at the launch of the Child Online Safety Toolkit on 16 May to discuss how we can make the online world safer & kinder, especially for children.’
5Rights Foundation is a British charity founded by Baroness Beeban Kidron, to help children and young people participate in the digital world ‘creatively, knowledgeably and fearlessly.’
It’s far from the first time the Duke has spoken out about his concerns over the digital world.
Last year, Prince Harry was one of 15 commissioners and three co-chairmen who conducted a six-month study into the digital ‘avalanche of misinformation’ on behalf of the Aspen Institute based in Washington DC.
The report called for ‘increasing social media transparency and disclosure’, a ‘new proposal regarding social media platform immunity’ and ‘ideas for need reversing the collapse of local journalism and the erosion of trusted media’.
Other ‘solutions’ that were given in the report include pushing for ‘community-led methods for improving civic dialogue and resisting imbalances of information power’; and ‘accountability for ‘superspreaders’ of online lies’.
Prince Harry today helped to launch an ‘online safety toolkit’ for children. The Duke of Sussex, who is currently living in his $14 million mansion in California having stepped back from royal duty last year, spoke in a webinar run by the youth charity 5Rights Foundation
The event was titled Making Child Online Safety a Reality and saw Harry speak with young people from around the world to discuss what was needed to make child online safety a reality
The London based foundation shared a tweet announcing the news online last week, saying they hoped to make the online world ‘safer and kinder’ for children
The duke’s push to combat fake news may raise eyebrows in some quarters, given that he and his wife Meghan Markle were accused of making various questionable statements in their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March this year.
Meanwhile he claimed in an online panel called ‘The Internet Lie Machine’ that he and his wife have been the target of trolls online, even though they do not have individual accounts on social media.
He said: ‘I’m not on social media, we’re not on social media, and until things change that will remain the same.’
He said social media sites should take responsibility and not spread ‘hate and lies’ after Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen revealed a tranche of documents which alleged the tech giant was placing profit above user safety.
The Duke and Duchess joined New York-based Harry Walker Agency, which represents the Obamas and the Clintons, las year.
PR expert Mark Borkowski told The Sun the pair will ‘clean up’. They plan to be available for talks on social issues including racial justice, gender equality, the environment and mental health, according to the LA Times.
‘I’m surprised they haven’t done this sooner. It will be one of the great income generators for them. The speaker’s circuit is a natural safe space for them to plunder,’ he added.
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