The Duchess of Sussex made the remarks in a video appearance for Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Next Gen Virtual Summit. Access to the conversation cost an eye-watering $1,750, with guests having to reserve online tickets to hear Meghan speak. Before she married Prince Harry, Meghan was an avid user of Instagram and other social media accounts. She also paid reference to the Royal Family in the video call, referring to The Firm as the “institution”.
Meghan was speaking about “courageous leadership” in the summit when she turned her attention to social media in the modern day.
The Duchess was speaking about the dangers posed by social media to users, and claimed it creates an “obsession”.
She said: “There are very few things in this world where you call the person who’s engaging with it ‘a user’.
“People who are addicted to drugs are called users and people who are on social media are called users.”
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The Duchess continued to suggest social media creates a dependency on its users.
She added: “There is something algorithmically that is in there that is creating this obsession that I think is very unhealthy for a lot of people.
“I have a lot of concerns for people that have become obsessed with it and it is so much a part of our daily culture for so many people that it is an addiction.”
But when asked about her own usage, Meghan set herself apart from others and said she had “not been on social media for a very long time, and claimed it was “for her own self-preservation”.
Meghan also took a shot at the Royal Family during the virtual summit, referring to them only as the “institution”.
Speaking about her usage of the Sussex Royals account, she said: “We had one through the institution and our office that was in the UK.
“But that wasn’t managed by us that was a whole team.
“I have made a personal choice to not have any account, so I don’t know what’s out there and in many ways that’s helpful for me.”
Meghan’s comments on social media came as the Royal Family has embraced digital platforms this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Due to lockdown restrictions earlier this year, working royals like the Queen and Prince William were forced to embrace video calls and social media to continue working.
In 2017, Brian Hoey, a journalist, claimed the monarch actually had her own private social media account.
He said to the Daily Mail: “The Queen also has an iPad and a laptop, and she has a personal account on Facebook — though no one outside the Palace knows how many ‘Friends’ she has.”
