The Duchess of Sussex has said she was "bullied and attacked" every day for 10 years on social media and was "the most trolled person in the entire world".
Speaking to young people involved with the mental health organisation Batyr at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Meghan said social media companies were "not incentivised to stop". She added: "Now, I'm still here. And when I think of all of you and what you're experiencing, I think so much of that is having to realise that you know that industry, that billion-dollar industry, that is completely anchored and predicated on cruelty to get clicks – that's not going to change. So you have to be stronger than that."
During the discussion, Prince Harry described Australia's ban on under-16s using social media as "epic" from a "responsibility and leadership standpoint". He said Australia was the first country to bring about such a ban, and that many others had followed suit, but "it should have never got to a ban".
He continued: "The companies themselves have to be accountable, and there's no way that young people should be punished by being banned from something that should be safe to use, no matter what."
Earlier on Thursday, the duke and duchess took part in Melbourne's Scar Tree Walk, which bridges traditional and contemporary Aboriginal cultures and the histories of the peoples of the Kulin nation. Joggers and cyclists appeared surprised to spot the couple along the banks of the Yarra River.
