Meghan Markle Speaks on SXSW Panel, Talks Toxicity of Social Media & Why She Keeps Her Distance Now

Meghan Markle is speaking out about the dangers of social media.

The 42-year-old Duchess of Sussex participated on the “Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen” panel during the SXSW festival on Friday (March 8) in Austin, Tex.

Meghan was joined on the panel by Katie Couric, Brooke Shields, Errin Haines, and Nancy Wang Yuen. Her husband Prince Harry was seated in the audience with their close friend Markus Anderson.

“Yes, social media is an environment that has a lot of that [toxicity] …I keep my distance from it right now just for my own wellbeing,” Meghan said, adding that she received toxic comments during her pregnancies.

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She continued, “You have to really wrap your head around why people would be so hateful. It’s not catty — it’s cruel. And certainly when you’re pregnant or you have a newborn, as moms you know it’s such a tender and sacred time. And you can either succumb to it or nearly succumb to how painful it is. And maybe in some regards, that mammalian instinct just kicked in: ‘Do everything you can to protect your child’ and as a result protect yourself too.”

Meghan noted that it’s often women targeting other women on social media.

She said, “As we look at what’s happening in social media, there is so much work to be done in terms of keeping people safe. That starts as we see what’s happening with children and their exposure to things. But also just creating these habits — that what I find the most disturbing, frankly, especially as a supporter of women, is how much of the hate is women completely spewing that to other women. And I cannot make sense of that.”

Meghan recently sent a message to a talk show host via a famous friend!