Meta Boss Mark Zuckerberg fired back At The Sussexes’ who tone deaf attack on Meta for scaling back it’s fact checking initiative

Who do the Duke and Duchess of Sussex think they are?  Since their quasi-abdication from the royal family five years ago, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have seldom found a publicity angle that they were not prepared to exploit for their own personal (and commercial) gain. But the sheer effrontery of the statement that they have put out this week, criticising Meta for scaling back its fact-checking initiatives from public posts, takes some beating. Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg declared that fact-checkers “have destroyed more trust than they’ve created, especially in the US”. But this is not good enough for the Sussexes, and they have responded with vigour.

The pair announced gravely that this decision “should deeply concern us all” and that, “contrary to the company’s talking points, allowing more abuse and normalising hate speech serves to silence speech and expression, not foster it.”

There was more, too: we are informed that: “In an already confusing and, in many instances, intentionally disruptive information environment, Meta has shown their words and commitments have very little meaning or integrity. As they announce these changes, undoubtedly responding to political winds, they once again abandon public safety in favour of profit, chaos and control.”

The expression “the pot calling the kettle black” comes to mind. It is not quite clear how the Sussexes, who have arguably treated the royal family terribly over the past few years, can castigate another organisation for seeking “profit, chaos and control” – three words that ought to replace the Duke’s informal and long-abandoned family motto of “never complain, never explain”. This statement should be funny – it is funny – but it is also deeply bewildering to see how two supposedly sentient adults can write words that are so lacking in self-awareness and any grain of humility.The Duchess, of course, would argue that she has spent years being trolled by racists and critics online, and that Meta’s decision has merely licensed the vicious to “[use] the platforms to spread hate, lies and division at the expense of everyone else.” She may well be right. Yet it’s worth asking if any apportionment of blame here has to encompass some acknowledgement that their actions are hardly without culpability. This goes unrecognised.

Instead, the statement goes on to suggest that: “We are particularly alarmed by plans to abandon commitments to diversity and equity, coupled with internal policy changes that undermine protections for marginalised communities.”

Reading this, you would not know that there is a cultural and political sea-change occurring in the United States. This seismic shift is because its population – of all colours and backgrounds –was thoroughly sick of being patronised and talked down to by politicians and self-appointed opinion-formers who took pride in the righteousness of their opinions on such matters. Millions – tens of millions – begged to differ, and so Donald Trump returns to power.

The statement ends, naturally, with a plug for the Archewell Foundation, that bastion of dignity and good sense in an increasingly dark world. When it’s not being labelled delinquent, that is. Yet this is also a lesson in the Sussexes failing to grasp basic realities. The pair were recently photographed ministering to victims of the recent fires in California, in what was either a selfless act of compassion or a carefully choreographed piece of PR management for Meghan’s now-delayed solo television show, depending on your perspective. That gesture could have been done without any attendant hoo-ha. But this latest self-important, tone-deaf piece of soapbox grandstanding suggests that the Sussexes haven’t learnt a thing, and their comical lack of judgement means that their intervention won’t have the effect they hope.