The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have long called for more action to protect children and young people from online dangers, with Prince Harry recently warning that the impact of social media on children is "one of the most pressing issues of our time".
And the couple have already spoken "a lot" about what they will do in future when their children, Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four, want phones one day. Harry was asked about the issue as he appeared on the Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know podcast, released on Wednesday.
"I don't know if you guys have hit this crossroads yet, but what are you going to do when your kids ask for a cell phone? Are you going to give them a phone? Have you talked to Meghan about this, because I've talked to my wife about this," host Hasan asked his royal guest.
"We talk about it a lot," Harry said of himself and his wife, Meghan. "I think that because of what we know now, we will be way more cautious and hesitant of allowing our kids to have access to social media, but the problem is, so many parents don't have that awareness."
"Because in no logical, fair, ethical, moral world, should a parent have to consider this app, that sits on the phone - which by the way, having a phone for your kid is a really important thing - but the moment that you give them the gateway to everything else, kids will be kids," he added.
Speaking about his own children getting older Hasan asked: "What are you guys going to do when you hit that eight, nine, ten place? I don't know what to do because I feel like I'm being opted in."
© Instagram / @meghanHarry replied: "You're right, a lot of parents feel as if they don't have a choice, and a lot of kids don't have a choice. Because the reality is, if you're talking about just having a smartphone and an old-school phone are two very different things."
He continued: "If you want to be able to contact your kid, maybe we should just be giving them the old-school phone… but I think that our goal has to be to make sure that when our children get to that age, that the situation now isn't the situation then. There's no reason why it should be."
Sharing pictures of your children online
Since rejoining Instagram in January, Meghan has given an insight into her family life, often sharing snaps of Archie and Lilibet baking cookies or making breakfast at home, or recently visiting a pumpkin patch. However, the Duchess tends to only share photographs of the children taken from behind or obscuring their face.
© Instagram / @meghanHarry was asked by Hasan whether parents should post images of their children online, to which the Duke replied: "Parents can do whatever they want. The reality is, from what I've learned, what I've seen, what I've heard and experienced through, especially through the Parents Network, is you should be really, really worried, concerned and cautious about putting photographs of your kids online, especially now with this surge of unregulated AI. You just don't know where it's going to go. You don't know how it's going to be used. But that's also really sad. And like now there's parents watching this going, 'How am I supposed to share photographs of my kids with so-and-so on the other side of the world?'"
© Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t KnowWhen should kids join social media?
The Duke was also asked what age he thinks youngsters should be allowed to join social media platforms, with Harry responding: "I think once your brain is properly formed. Once you are starting to learn who you are." He added: I think 21 is a sensible age but [social media] companies won't ever allow that. They will throw tens of millions of dollars to lobby against that."
Prince William and Kate's stance on phones
Harry's podcast appearance comes just weeks after Prince William spoke about Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis not being allowed mobile phones in a special episode of Eugene Levy's Apple TV+ show, The Reluctant Traveler. The Waleses ensure they prioritise family mealtimes where they can sit down and catch up on their days. "We sit and chat, it’s really important. None of our children have any phones, which we're very strict about," William said.
Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know is a production of 186K Films and Lemonada Media
