30 September 2025

King Charles is “very concerned” about the impact social media has on young people.

King Charles is concerned about social media

The 76-year-old monarch has discussed his fears about the “negative influences” found in the online world as he spoke with Rev Tommy MacNeil, who runs the Shed Project, a charity focused on mental health on the Scottish island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides.

Their discussion came after the Church of Scotland minister, who usually leads the congregation at Stornoway’s Martin’s Memorial Church, gave a sermon to the king and his wife Queen Camilla at Balmoral Castle on Sunday (28.09.25).

The ministter told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: “We spoke for 40 minutes and the King was clearly well briefed about the Shed and what we are doing.

“He was very concerned about the negative impact social media was having on young people in so many ways. He really understood the problems and the difficulties involved in combating them.

“He was very engaged and 100 per cent appreciative of the work we are doing. Young people today are growing up in a different world to their parents. The stuff they are accessing on their phones is frightening.

“King Charles was clearly very concerned about the whole issue and negative influences on young people from social media. It is almost impossible to police social media, so we need to find ways to combat that.”

Both of Charles’ sons, Princes William and Harry, have previously spoken out about their concerns for young people in the social media age.

William previously expressed concerns that social media can increase bullying or lead to people finding themselves in a “cultural and political echo chamber”.

He said in a 2018 speech: “We all have to acknowledge, though, that much of the early optimism and hope of social media is giving way to very real concern, and even fear about its impact on our lives.

“We have seen that the technology that can allow you to develop an online community around a shared hobby or interest can also be used to organise violence.

“The platform that can allow you to celebrate diversity can also be used to cocoon yourself in a cultural and political echo chamber.

“The new ways we have to access news from across the world are also allowing misinformation and conspiracy to pollute the public sphere.

“The tools that we use to congratulate each other on milestones and successes can also be used to normalise speech that is filled with bile and hate.

“The websites we use to stay connected can for some create profound feelings of loneliness and inadequacy.

“And the apps we use to make new friends, can also allow bullies to follow their targets even after they have left the classroom or the playing field.”

Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, unveiled The Lost Screen Memorialin New York in April and called for more action to protect children from the dangers of social media.

Harry told BBC Breakfast: “We want to make sure that things are changed so that… no more kids are lost to social media.

“Life is better off social media.

“The easiest thing to say is to keep your kids away from social media.

“The sad reality is the kids who aren’t on social media normally get bullied at school because they can’t be part of the same conversation as everybody else.”

The Lost Screen Memorial features 50 lightboxes, which are designed to look like smartphones.

Each one features a photograph of a child whose life was cut short due to “harms of social media”.

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