At the Project Healthy Minds Gala and World Mental Health Day Festival, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined grieving parents, youth advocates, and experts in demanding urgent action against tech platforms harming children.
A Royal Wake-Up Call
At a glittering gala in New York City, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took the stage to accept the Humanitarian of the Year Award—but their message wasn’t celebratory.
“Four thousand. That’s how many families the Social Media Victims Law Center is currently representing,” Harry said, calling out the devastating impact of unregulated social media on youth.
The award recognized their work through The Parents Network, an initiative by their Archewell Foundation, which supports families who’ve suffered loss or trauma tied to social media platforms.
But the couple didn’t just accept an award — they used the moment to issue a blistering critique of Big Tech, naming Apple and Meta, decrying AI’s unchecked harms, and calling attention to corporate lobbying that suppresses the truth.
From Tragedy to Advocacy
Their remarks followed a year of quiet but impactful advocacy. Earlier in 2025, the couple hosted a powerful event that showed the faces of children lost to social media-related harm on towering smartphone screens — a haunting image of the crisis unfolding.
The gala was hosted by Project Healthy Minds, a nonprofit tackling the youth mental health crisis in a tech-dominated world. It was followed by a full-day festival on World Mental Health Day, where survivors, parents, advocates, and researchers took the conversation even further.
“It’s Coming for Our Kids”
In a festival panel titled “How Are Young People Doing in the Digital Age,” Prince Harry introduced a deeply emotional session:
- Katie, a teen, shared how TikTok’s algorithm flooded her feed with eating disorder content at age 12. The result: hospitalization.
- Isabel Sunderland, of Design It For Us, shared her awakening upon learning how Facebook’s role in the Myanmar genocide showed the darker potential of everyday platforms.
- “It’s not accidental,” she said. “It’s designed to addict us.”
These stories underscored a growing consensus: the crisis isn’t just about content — it’s about platform design.
The New Childhood: Anxious, Isolated, Addicted
A panel introduced by Meghan and moderated by Katie Couric dove into the deeper societal toll. Featuring psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt, the session explored how social media has rewired childhood itself:
- Anxiety, depression, and feelings of meaninglessness are surging.
- Kids are missing out on play, conflict resolution, and boredom — all vital to healthy brain development.
- Instead of developing real-life social skills, young people are learning to scroll.
“Play is not optional. It’s essential for mental health,” said Haidt. “Without it, children grow up anxious.”
From Loss to Lawsuit
Amy Neville, who lost her son Alexander to an overdose facilitated through Snapchat, shared her grief — and her fight:
“I quickly realized this wasn’t isolated. Kids across the country are dying.”
“I’m suing Snapchat. I feel like it’s a fight to the death. And I’m willing to go there.”
On another panel, Kirsten, mother to Katie (the TikTok survivor), described the shock of discovering her daughter’s eating disorder content wasn’t sought out — it was algorithmically delivered.
“This was not what she looked for. It’s what came to her,” she said.
Calling Out Big Tech — and AI
Prince Harry didn’t mince words when it came to artificial intelligence, either.
He referenced a study where researchers posing as children interacted with AI chatbots — and encountered harmful responses every five minutes. These weren’t third-party apps, he emphasized — they were “the company’s own chatbots advancing their internal policies.”
The Sussexes also announced a new partnership between The Parents Network and ParentsTogether, amplifying the movement for legislation, accountability, and parental empowerment.
The Movement Is Growing
While the statistics are bleak, the sentiment wasn’t hopeless.
“We can and we will build the movement that all families and all children deserve,” Meghan declared during her closing remarks.
“When parents come together, when communities unite, waves are made.”
The Sussexes, once lightning rods for royal controversy, are now emerging as global mental health advocates — using their platform not just to inspire, but to demand change.
