Ahead of UK President-elect Donald Trump‘s inauguration day ceremony on January 20th, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have now criticised Meta for its decision to remove fact-checking features. Not just this, Harry and Meghan have also called Meta ‘Trump-owned’ for which they might face “repercussions” from Donald Trump, a communication specialist told News Break.
After Meta’s recent decision to remove fact-checking features from their platform, Harry and Meghan criticised this move and called it “intentionally disruptive information environment.” For the unversed, social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp are a part of Meta.
Harry and Meghan said, “This latest move from Meta is an example of a social media company- fully aware of their power to shape public discourse – disregarding any responsibility to ensure that power is not abused and instead allowing either ego or profit, likely both, to guide decisions that affect billions.”
Many people speculate that Meta’s head Mark Zuckerberg has made this change deliberately ahead of Trump’s inauguration.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time that Harry and Meghan have spoken about creating safe spaces on social media. In 2024, the royal couple had also launched The Archewell Foundation Parents’ Network to support people and families after a child had died due to social media.
However, commenting on this solution PR guru Nick Ede told Newsweek that Harry and Meghan’s criticism might have repercussions for the couple with Donald Trump becoming the US President. “Unfortunately there could be a repercussion from this, especially with Trump, you know, poking this ginormous bear and not expecting something back from it… Trump will see this as a battle he wants to win and potentially will target them in whatever way he does it.”
On the contrary, the PR guru also praised Harry and Meghan to speak-up for something that they are so passionate about. The royal couple have been advocating for a safer online environment for quite some time now. “It’s good they’re still putting their money where their mouth is in the fact [that] they are crusaders for making sure social media companies are a safe space,” he added.
In other news, Harry and Meghan are also currently helping people affected by the LA and California wildfires. News is that the couple have opened up their home for their friends who have been displaced due to the wildfires; the couple also visited the victims recently to help them and hear out their concerns.
