Published on 10 November 2026 – 10:58 GMT+1•Updated
12:13
Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, on Tuesday backed the European Union’s campaign to protect children from online harassment during a visit to the European Parliament in Brussels.
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In an emotional speech, Harry accused social media companies of failing to make their platforms safer, leaving children exposed to online harassment and bullying, sometimes with fatal consequences.
“These companies have caused so much harm, there has to be accountability,” he said at an event organised by the Parliament’s Intergroup on Children’s Rights.
Harry defended a strong approach to regulate social media, defining the current widespread addiction they create as “brainwashing on an extraordinary scale.”
“The number of you who continue to look at your phones throughout this process is an example of that,” he said to a packed room of MEPs, parliament staff and journalists.
“Every time you look at your phone, just remember that there is a child out there that is looking at that phone 20-30 times – more probably –considering taking that life because they don’t know how to escape,” he pointed out.
Harry also praised the proposed EU Kids Act, which aims to strengthen protections for children online, for shifting the burden of responsibility from parents to social media companies.
He took a similar stance during a private event, attended by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. “We heard from young people that short-form addictive scrolling is when things really changed for the worse. It should be simple enough to disallow that feature,” he said in his speech, a copy of which was seen by Euronews.
Meghan made her first public appearance since her estranged father was arrested in the US on suspicion of possessing child sexual abuse material.
She joined Harry for private meetings with MEPs and the event attended by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, but did not deliver a planned speech, reportedly because the past two weeks had been emotionally difficult.
At the Parliament, the couple unveiled the “Lost Screen Memorial”, first launched in New York last year. The poignant display features photographs of young people whose deaths have been linked to online harms.
They were joined by Sandra Spitaels, whose 15-year-old son Glenn took his own life after a nude image of him was shared on social media.
Harry had to walk between a crowd of onlookers as he moved through the Parliament, with many assistants craning to get a picture or a video of him. He did not answer any questions from the reporters.
Harry and Meghan have spent years campaigning for stronger online protections and supporting families who have lost children to online harms. Belgian MEP Hilde Vautmans asked the Duke of Sussex to be “the Godfather” of the fight against online harassment worldwide, due to the media attention he can get.
The European Parliament is currently debating the proposed EU Kids Act, which includes measures to delay children’s access to social media, introduce age verification checks and strengthen default safety protections, including restrictions on addictive features.
Last week, the European Commission warned TikTok that it must change the “harmful” design of its personalised ‘For You’ feed or risk large fines under the bloc’s digital rules, after finding preliminary evidence of violations.
Speaking at the event, European Commission Vice-President Dubravka Šuica said this was the last of a long series of actions taken by the EU against large social media platforms to reduce risks for children.
Parliament chief Metsola also called for more legislation criminalising serious online harassment and the distribution of intimate images without consent across Europe.
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