Prince Harry Says Archie and Lilibet Will be Grateful to Young People Working For More Responsible Technology
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In February, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Archewell Foundation announced that it would be backing the creation of a Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund—set up to support youth-led businesses and charities to help shape the future of technology. And today, 26 U.S-based organizations have been announced as an inaugural cohort, with Harry and Meghan calling them to say congratulations.
“Thank you for doing everything that you do, our kids especially are incredibly grateful,” Harry said in a video showing him and Meghan on the phone to a young person. “They don’t know it yet but they will,” Meghan agreed. The youth-led initiatives will receive a total of $2 million to support their work, which ranges from improving education access to working to ensure the responsible use of artificial intelligence. The money has been provided by several sponsors including the Archewell Foundation.
“Societies globally are wrestling with major issues like the youth mental health crisis and the decay of our information environment. What and who can we trust online? Can online spaces be truly safe and affirm wellbeing? And what new systems can we create with, instead of for, young people?” Emma Leiken, RTYPF Co-founder, said in a statement released today. “These questions touch on issues ranging from platform accountability to cybersecurity, privacy, digital literacy, data equity, algorithmic bias, and digital well-being and that's what this fund's grantees will tackle.”
Prince Harry and Meghan have long made it clear that challenging harmful structures in media, social media and the internet is intended to be a central part of their work. In a 2021 interview, Prince Harry warned about the harm being caused by misinformation online. “We are losing loved ones to conspiracy theories, losing a sense of self because of the barrage of mistruths, and at the largest scale, losing our democracies,” he said. “I think it’s a false choice to say you have to pick between free speech or a more compassionate and trustworthy digital world. They are not mutually exclusive.” The couple founded the Archewell Foundation after stepping back from royal life in 2020. They run the organization from their home in California where they live with their two children Archie, four and Lilibet, two.
As part of today’s announcement, Harry and Meghan heard from Trisha Prabhu, whose organization Rethink Citizens has been selected to be part of the Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund. “It was like young people were empowered and emboldened to say things to me online that they would never say to me in person,” she explained to the royal couple. “And so my vision was, can we actually stop the cyber bullying at the source with the cyber bully via a behavioral approach that actually teaches young people to pause and rethink.”
“This is amazing,” Harry responded. “This is exactly why we do what we do. This is exactly why the Youth Power Fund was created.” The Sussexes also heard from Sam Hiner from the Young People’s Alliance Education Fund, who said, “Social media was a major area that I think in many ways was helpful to a lot of young people but at the same time creates huge harms for so many people especially in terms of mental health.”
“We’re so happy to have you as part of this team,” Prince Harry said on the phone, while Meghan told one young person, “Thank you for all the work you’re doing. It’s huge and it’s making an enormous impact.”
More information about the Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund and their inaugural cohort can be found at rtyouthpower.org.
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