Prince William thinks social media companies have 'a great deal' to learn about responsibility

The Duke of Cambridge thinks social media companies should be owning up to the responsibilities that come with the massive impact they have on our lives.

Speaking at the BBC on Thursday, Prince William first praised social media companies for their "extraordinary" inventions, but urged them to wake up to the responsibilities that come with their "significant power."

"As [the] list of unintended consequences grows, a culture of defensiveness is undermining the sector's relationship with the public," said Prince William.

"Their self-image is so grounded in their positive power for good that they seem unable to engage in constructive discussion about the social problems they are creating."

Prince William also criticised social media for helping to create "profound feelings of loneliness and inadequacy," adding that they have "a great deal" to learn about responsibility.

"You can reject the false choice of profits over values," he said. "You can choose to do good and be successful."

The prince urged the social media giants to work together to fix the problems they've created.

"Social media companies have done more to connect the world than has ever been achieved in human history," he said. "Surely you can connect with each other about smart ways to deal with the unintended consequences of these connections."

Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton, The Duchess of Cambridge, have been active in making the internet -- and social media in particular -- safer and less toxic.

In 2016 the couple launched a task force involving Facebook, Snapchat, Google, and the BBC to combat bullying, abuse, and harassment in the digital world.

Prince William's brother, The Duke of Sussex Prince Harry, has also taken an active part in the fight against toxic online culture. In a historic statement in 2016, Prince Harry spoke out against the online harassment of his wife (then girlfriend), Meghan Markle.