Prince Harry And Meghan Markle’s New Project Has An Urgent Warning About Social Media

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex unveiled “The Lost Screen Memorial,” honoring children who died as a result of social media or harm they suffered online.

NEW YORK — Prince Harry and Meghan Markle joined families in mourning on Wednesday evening as they unveiled a powerful memorial in New York City that calls for urgent reform of social media.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended a private vigil for a temporary installation called “The Lost Screen Memorial,” which features 50 smartphone lock screens. Each lock screen is in a lightbox, which displays the image of a child whose life ended too soon as a result of social media.

The parents of the children featured in the installation are all part of Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation Parents’ Network and its No Child Lost to Social Media campaign. Parents submitted these “deeply personal images” of their children “to call attention to the urgent need for safer online spaces,” according to a statement from Archewell.

At the memorial, the affected parents gathered to view the installation and meet with other parents, as well as the duke and duchess, who spent nearly two hours connecting with each person at the event.

“It is a universal truth that our children are in harm’s way by what’s happening online,” Meghan said at the event. “No matter how polarized the world is or what people may or may not agree on, one thing that we can all agree on is that our children should be safe.”