British royalty would like to have a word with the Silicon Valley oligarchy. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are none too happy with Mark Zuckerberg’s recent decision to scrap Meta’s fact-checking program on its Facebook and Instagram platforms. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex claimed in a lengthy statement released through their Archwell Foundation that the decision, announced by Zuckerberg on January 7, was made due to “ego or profit.”
“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,” the statement read. “Contrary to the company’s talking points, allowing more abuse and normalizing hate speech serves to silence speech and expression, not foster it.”
The couple continued, “We urge Meta to reconsider and reinstate policies to protect all users. We also call on leaders across industries to uphold their commitments to integrity and public safety in online spaces, and we applaud leaders who refuse to kowtow to bullying.”
“Having worked in this space for the last five years and witnessing the real-world devastation these decisions have, we feel there is no justification for why this industry behaves as if they are exempt from the ethical and moral standards everyone else abides by” Harry and Meghan wrote.
The couple’s call for stricter social media moderation is nothing new. In 2023, the pair coordinated a panel on World Health Day featuring parents who lost children due to mental health issues tied to social media. “I think by design, there is an entry point that’s supposed to be positive and creating community,” Markle said of social media at the time. “And something has devolved, and there’s no way to hear that and not try to help these families have their stories be heard.”
The couple has also waged a legal war against British tabloids. Prince Harry’s long-simmering case against Rupert Murdoch-owned UK newspapers is due to be heard in court later this year.
Zuckerberg announced his decision to end Meta’s fact-checking system in favor of a Community Notes model similar to the one used by Elon Musk over at X (formerly Twitter). The new system would allow users to add notes to original posts to provide additional context. Meta said that the notes will “require agreement between people with a range of perspectives” to eliminate potential bias. Critics however have seized on finer points, like the company’s decision to allow users to call members of the LGBTQ population “abnormal” or “mentally ill.”
The CEO said his decision would curb “censorship” on Meta platforms, but many believe the decision was made to position itself better ahead of the incoming Trump presidency. Zuckerberg himself—who has also been very cozy with Trump in recent months and even donated $1 million to his inauguration fund—said the decision responded to what he called a “cultural tipping point” following the recent presidential election. “It’s time to get back to our roots around free expression,” Zuckerberg explained. “Too much harmless content gets censored, too many people find themselves wrongly locked up in ‘Facebook jail.’”
Harry and Meghan’s statement concluded, “We at The Archewell Foundation remain committed to promoting accountability, safeguarding information integrity, and protecting all communities in the digital age. We hope and expect those enabling Meta’s profits, like advertisers and shareholders, to do the same.”
