Speaking in Switzerland before the opening of the 79th World Health Assembly, the Duchess unveiled the Lost Screen Memorial, which is dedicated to the memory of children whose families believe harmful material online contributed to their deaths.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex opened the memorial in the US last April, in New York, as part of the No Child Lost to Social Media campaign, but it has been moved to the Place des Nations in Geneva.
The installation is made of 50 smartphone-shaped light boxes, each displaying a photograph of a child whose life was lost. It will stay in Geneva throughout the assembly, hosted by the World Health Organisation and Archewell Philanthropies.
Visitors will be able to hear the stories of the children featured in the memorial through its digital companion experience.
The Duchess joined global health leaders, politicians and families affected by online harms at the event, where she warned that social media can make young people suicidal.
She cited the case of Mason, a teenage boy, who died after a break-up, when social media platforms “preyed upon his pain” and “offered him ideas of how he should take his life”.
The Duchess said: “These stories are not isolated. They are consistent. And they are not the fault of the child, nor the parent.” She warned that AI was further compounding the risks.
She added: “At the same time, advancing technologies, such as AI, are not just repeating past mistakes – they are accelerating and amplifying them…
“We are seeing new forms of harm emerge faster than our systems are prepared to respond, affecting children at alarming scale and across borders.”
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.telegraph.co.uk ’
