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Meghan Markle joined several special attendees on Sunday at the Lost Screen Memorial, ahead of the opening of the 79th World Health Assembly at Place des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Duchess of Sussex, who matched the sobering occasion in a black Giorgio Armani suit and Princess Diana’s gold Cartier Tank Française watch, shared her remarks, saying, in part, “this is not simply a technology issue, it is a public health issue and a human one.”
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“Behind us stands the Lost Screen Memorial, not statistics, not avatars, not data points — children. Each name belonged to a child who was loved beyond measure,” Markle said. “A child whose laughter once filled a kitchen, whose shoes once waited by a front door, whose future once felt limitless.”
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The memorial honors the children whose lives were cut short as a result of harm they suffered via social media that was “compromising their well-being,” as Markle said in her remarks.
“For too long we’ve accepted a dangerous bargain, that modern connection must come at the cost of the innocence of childhood.”
Advocacy for safer online spaces and social media guardrails is a cause both Markle and Prince Harry have advocated for in the years since they took a step back from their duties as senior members of the British royal family in 2020.
The couple previously sat down with CBS News’ “Sunday Morning” for a conversation with Jane Pauley in August 2024, in which they discussed the ways they’re using their respective platforms to draw attention to the risks of online bullying.
The “Lost Screen Memorial,” first exhibited in 2025, is a commemorative art installation that displays illuminated smartphone lock screens symbolizing 50 children who tragically lost their lives following harm associated with social media.