Out of touch elites are at it again
In August 2020, the most extended year in history, Prince Harry wrote a well-intentioned op-ed for Fast Company. In it, Harry said: "Our message was clear: The digital landscape is unwell and companies like yours have the chance to reconsider your role in funding and supporting online platforms that have contributed to, stoked, and created the conditions for a crisis of hate, a crisis of health, and a crisis of truth."
Harry's response was a typical knee-jerk reaction to a worldwide crisis, treat the symptom and not address the problem at its core. Racism and White Supremacy are at the heart of the matter. But it was glossed over and mentioned as an afterthought in Harry's op-ed.
After abolishing slavery, Britain paid millions in compensation – but every penny of it went to slave owners, and not a cent when to the enslaved. We must stop overlooking the brutality of British history. The U.K. talks about slavery as something that occurred out there across the pond in the U.S. Is it a case of convenient amnesia? Britain was involved in the African slave trade, and they continue to hold on to this royal family fairy tale.
Harry and Meghan heard arguments made by humane tech leaders with whom they convened at Stanford University earlier this year, by internet law experts, neuroscientists, and most importantly, by young people who have grown up in a fully connected world. Harry, with all due respect, I don't give a lot of credence to talking head experts. Some of these same experts dismissed Trump as a candidate and don't get me started on the politicians and Christian leaders who stood by idle for four years while he made a mockery of democracy.
Harry, we are the divided states of America, social media did not cause the divide. It highlighted the ugly truth. The shooting of unarmed BIPOC at the hands of police officers is not a new phenomenon.
I am not interested in what celebrities or experts think. I do not take cues from them as to how I should conduct myself in society. Harry said: "When we do the right thing when we create safe spaces both online and off—everyone wins. Even the platforms themselves."
Harry is now up in arms, wagging his royal finger at social media. In a recent piece in Fast Company, Harry said, "Time is running out." Harry calls for social media reform after U.S. Capitol riot. First of all, let's be clear this was an insurrection, not a riot. I always find the performative outrage hilarious. Look, I get it, Harry and Meghan have taken a lot of heat in the press, and they have a new podcast to promote. But, if we're talking about a healthier social media where truth reigns supreme, they should call a spade an insurrection.
Harry and Meghan need to practice what they preach. What the world witnessed last week was not the fault of social media point the finger at Trump, the man who was allowed to cultivate a culture of hate and his enablers in Washington. What's even more offensive about this article was there was no push back by Fast Company. I guess his stature enamored them.
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