CELEBS T O TALK ON SOCIAL MEDIA DANGERS

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are to bring together celebrity friends and tech bosses for a “virtual conversation” about the dangers of social media and internet addiction. Here's some detail:

1

ARCHEWELL FOUNDATION

The couple will next week host a special edition of Time 100 Talks, called Engineering a Better World, convening several members of their new network for individual discussions. The 90-minute event will explore issues that form the basis of their new non-profit foundation, Archewell — building safer online communities and how that, in turn, reflects on gender equity, racial justice and climate change.

2 SPEARHEADED THEMSELVES

The Sussexes are said to have developed the theme themselves, chosen the guests and the topics and will lead each of the conversations. It follows the Duke's revelation that they had lobbied business leaders to boycott “lawless” social media companies as well as several talks and articles focusing on the dangers of the internet.

3 WIDE NETWORK

The couple's guests will include Alexis Ohanian, cofounder of Reddit; Tristan Harris, president of the Centre for Humane Technology, whom the Duke recently revealed he and his wife “absolutely adore”; and Renee DiResta, technical research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory; Maria Ressa, boss of Rappler, a Manila-based website that took on the Philippines government; and the hosts of Teenager Therapy.

4 `SHOUTING MATCH'

The Duke and Duchess have dedicated much of their time in California to tackling the dangers of social media, backing the U.S.-based Stop Hate for Profit campaign, which aims to put pressure on Facebook to tackle hate speech. In August, the Duke revealed that the couple had been calling tech bosses, telling them they must “reconsider” their role in “funding and supporting online platforms that have contributed to, stoked and created the conditions for a crisis of hate, a crisis of health and a crisis of truth.” Last month, the Duke condemned the dark side of social media as a “shouting match” that benefits “all the wrong people,” and in a video for the Time 100 awards he said he had joined a voting drive ahead of the U.S. presidential election, urging Americans to “reject hate speech.”