Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have made their first public appearance together since May of this year – which was when the couple attended the Women of Vision Awards ceremony and were then involved in a “near-catastrophic” car chase in New York City.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell Foundation is one of 14 organisations and charities giving US$2million in funding to 26 ‘online safety’ projects, and so, on August 2, the couple released footage of themselves calling the grant recipients and giving them the good news.
The name of this funding has been dubbed the Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund (RTYPF) and the 26 projects selected were chosen “for their groundbreaking approach to changing the future of technology.”
One of the selected projects, Rethink Citizens, seemed particularly dear to Harry and Meghan. In the video the couple shared, Trisha Prabhu of Rethink Citizens explained why she began her project and said:
“It was like young people were empowered and emboldened to say things to me online that they would never say to me in person. And so, my vision was, ‘Can we actually stop the cyberbullying at the source with the cyber bully via a behavioural approach that actually teaches young people to pause and rethink?’”
To which Harry enthusiastically replied, “This is amazing, this is exactly why we do what we do. This is exactly why the Power Fund was created!”
It’s obvious why Harry would be so ecstatic at the thought of someone eradicating cyberbullying; his wife Meghan has had to deal with magnitudes of online abuse ever since she became a member of the royal family.
And, trust me, some of the things said online about Meghan – yes, even since she and Harry retired from their royal duties – are truly horrible and completely unnecessary.
How would I know? I currently run The Weekly’s Instagram and whenever I post about the former Suits actress, I’m exposed to a plethora of malicious comments.
And I have to admit, every single time I see this kind of vitriol in the comments section, I think to myself, ‘Why would you waste your own time to write something so needlessly cruel about someone you’ve never met?’
If you don’t like Meghan, that’s fine, you’re entitled to that opinion, but why voice that dislike in a cut-throat way on Instagram? You could just ignore the post and move on with your day? I digress (and if it’s not clear, fully support the eradictaion of cyberbullying).
Other projects that will receive funding from the RTYPF include the AI Consensus – which aims to transform artificial intelligence education so it places more importance on the ethical and responsible use of AI tools – and the LOG OFF Movement – which aims to empower young people to rethink and rebuild their relationship with social media.
