Prince Harry warned of the dangers of false information spreading online during a visit to a school in Colombia on Thursday (15.08.24).
Prince Harry and Meghan on the first day of their tour of Colombia
The Duke of Sussex is visiting the country with his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and during the first day of their tour, the royal couple visited a school in the capital Bogota and Harry gave a speech about issues including the rise of AI and the dissemination of dangers untruths on social media.
He told the audience: "What happens online within a matter of minutes transfers to the streets. People are acting on information that isn’t true.
"It comes down to all of us to be able to spot the true from the fake. In an ideal world, those with positions of influence would take more responsibility. We are no longer debating facts.
"For as long as people are allowed to spread lies, abuse, harass, then social cohesion as we know it has completely broken down."
Harry added that "education and awareness" is key to solving the problems online.
Harry and Meghan visited the school alongside Colombia's Vice President Francia Marquez and they took part in an Insight Session discussing social media with students.
While Harry gave his opinion on the matter, some of the students were also encouraged to discuss their own experiences of social media and share their favourite and least favourite parts of the online world.
According to PEOPLE, Meghan praised the pupils as "impressive, smart and savvy" adding she feels it's important for them to be "self-reliant and not tech-reliant".
The couple will be spending Friday (16.08.24) - the second day of their tour - in Bogote where they will meet with the country’s athletes who will be taking part in Harry's Invictus Games - which celebrates the sporting achievements of wounded, sick or injured service people.
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