Prince William had some unusually harsh words for social media companies

The royal family isn’t know for sharing strong opinions; that aspect of public life in Britain is typically left to politicians and pundits. Which is why we were surprised to hear Prince William share some especially choice words for social media companies this week. While speaking to the BBC on Thursday, November 15th, the future king said that social media companies should be doing more to mitigate the damage they’ve caused to users’ mental health.

"Their self-image is so grounded in their positive power for good that they seem unable to engage in constructive discussion about the social problems they are creating," he said, without naming specific names. "You can reject the false choice of profits over values," he said. "You can choose to do good and be successful."

He continued to note that while social media has done much to connect people, it’s also had several unintended—and extremely negative—consequences, creating “profound feelings of loneliness and inadequacy.” He concluded by saying that these powerful companies, which have achieved so much, can work to figure out a way to better address this phenomenon.

You can watch Prince William’s full speech here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dU_kxANse8?start=47&feature=oembed

Hear, hear.