In one last minute SXSW main panel added in time for International Women's Day, Meghan Marklethe Duchess of Sussex, has spoken out about how social media has a negative impact on women.
“Even if it makes money, it doesn’t make sense,” said the former Suits star during the Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off Screen sign.
Katie Couric, also on the panel, cited statistics that show the impact of social media on young women is comparable to that of binge drinking in terms of increasing suicide rates. “We are facing a real crisis here,” said the former Today Show and CBS Evening News anchor.
“The toxicity that hits you, yes, social media is an environment that presents a lot of that,” Markle said.
The duchess told the packed auditorium at the Austin Convention Center that she dealt with negative social media thrown at her by keeping her distance. Markle said she was bombarded the most when she was pregnant with children Archie and Lily. It baffled Markle how “mean and cruel” people can be.
“But we've also created these habits – what I find to be most prevalent is the amount of hate that women spew at other women. I can’t understand this,” she continued.
“You read something terrible about a woman, why are you sharing it with your friends?,” the Duchess continued. “That’s the piece that’s so lost right now. We have forgotten our humanity.
Markle noted how the SXSW panel is streamed on YouTube without verifying the portal's name.
“Everyone can hear the brilliance of this platform, but it also contains hate and rhetoric. (The platform) encourages people to create pages to post comments and conspiracy theories that have a significant effect on mental health and safety.
Markle said “systematic change must happen at the same time as cultural change.” The duchess said that although many female executives are in positions of power, they are “allowing this behavior to become widespread”. They must put the “to do” behind the “to say”. That said, she praised Netflix content chief Bela Bajaria as an executive who is driving change with content that shows better representation of women and more diverse faces.
Today's session was presented by Markle's Archewell Foundation and The 19th, the national nonprofit newsroom covering gender, politics and policy.
Also appearing on the panel moderated by The 19th editor Errin Haines was Brooke Shields and sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen.