In her recent speech, Meghan Markle tackled social media trolls, urging them to consider what their grandmothers would think.
Prince Harry and Meghan are currently on a royal-style tour of Columbia, attending various events to promote the safety and well-being of young people. They are visiting local schools to enhance digital literacy and raise awareness about youth mental health.
Last night, August 15, Meghan spoke at the Responsible Digital Future forum in Bogota. She encouraged the audience to reflect on what their parents or grandparents might say before posting online.
In a video shared on Instagram by an audience member, she stated: “Maybe your grandmother used to say, ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.’
“The digital age has almost created a culture where if you don’t have anything cruel to say, don’t say anything at all. And that is fundamentally changing how we move through the world, how we connect with each other, and I think, as we continue with this work, we continue learning and investing and grant giving to young adults, we can be changemakers in this space.”
“A lot of it is how we as adults role model that behaviour both offline, and certainly how we role model online. As parents we have that responsibility, as global citizens we have that responsibility, but as digital citizens we have that responsibility to model how we want our children to be raised, and the world which we want them to be raised in.”
“It now includes the digital world. It’s not going away, so it’s how we can use what we know and continue to push the envelope to keep all of us safer, specifically our children.”
According to the Mirror, the couple arrived in the country on Thursday and were greeted by Vice-President Francia Marquez. They visited a school, attended a musical performance at an arts center in Bogota, and concluded their day at an internet safety summit.
This unofficial royal tour marks the Sussexes’ second of the year, following their three-day visit to Nigeria at the invitation of the country’s chief of defense staff.
Vice President Marquez shared that she was inspired to invite Harry and Meghan to Colombia after watching their Netflix docu-series, in which they discussed their experiences with the Royal Family.
Marquez stated: “I saw the Netflix series about their life, their story and that moved me and motivated me to say that this is a woman who deserves to come to our country and tell her story and her exchange will undoubtedly be an empowerment to so many women in the world.”