Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, says after experiencing a rollercoaster relationship with social media she sees value in showing up online “on the side of good.”
“I have had a very complicated relationship with social media,” the 44-year-old face of Netflix’s “With Love, Meghan” said while speaking at the Fortune Most Powerful Women summit in Washington on Tuesday.
“I also recognize the role that it plays in business,” added Meghan, the founder of the lifestyle brand, As Ever.
“My husband and I spend a lot of time working on online harms, specifically surrounding protecting our children — not ours personally — but all of our children, for what they’re susceptible to in the online space,” Meghan, who married Prince Harry in 2018, told Fortune editor in chief Alyson Shontell.
“So I’m sensitive to that. I also recognize that if you can show up in these spaces and be on the side of good, there is tremendous value in that also,” she said.
“We’re going to continue to expand the footprint in the social and digital space for the brand,” the former “Suits” star said.
Meghan returns to Instagram
Meghan returned to Instagram in January, after taking a yearslong hiatus from social media following her wedding and a torrent of online criticism.
In 2023, Meghan and Harry, who stepped back from serving as full-time working members of the British royal family in 2020 and moved to California, made a push for social media companies to implement stronger content-moderation policies.
“The last time I was on Instagram, Boomerang was a thing. That was a long time ago,” Meghan said with a grin, referring to the social media platform feature that was introduced a decade ago.
“So having started in January, I just started to explore and play in the same way that anyone else does when they’re online. I just happened to do it with a little bit more attention,” she said.
FILE – Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, arrives at the Invictus Games venue in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, April 15, 2022. Meghan will be in New York Tuesday, May 16, 2023, along with Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown, to receive the Ms. Foundation’s Women of Vision Award, as the nation’s oldest women’s foundation marks its 50th anniversary. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File) 
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, speaks during the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas, on March 8, 2024. (Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP, File) 
Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, arrives at the Invictus Games venue in The Hague, Netherlands, on April 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File) 
Meghan Markle arrives at the Paley Honors Fall Gala on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP) 
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA – AUGUST 15: Britain’s Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attends the ‘Responsible Digital Future’ forum at EAN University in Bogota, Colombia on August 15, 2024. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle land in Colombia to join Marquez in discussions with women and youth on combating discrimination and cyberbullying. (Photo by Juancho Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images) 
TOPSHOT – Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry (R) and his wife, Meghan Markle embrace at The Invictus Games in The Hague on April 16, 2022. The Invictus Games is an international sporting event for servicemen and veterans who have been psychologically or physically injured in their military service. (Photo by Remko de Waal / ANP / AFP) / Netherlands OUT (Photo by REMKO DE WAAL/ANP/AFP via Getty Images) 
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, participates in The Archewell Foundation Parents’ Summit “Mental Wellness in the Digital Age” as part of Project Healthy Minds’ World Mental Health Day Festival on Oct. 10, 2023, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) 
FILE – Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, salutes during the Global Citizen festival, on Sept. 25, 2021 in New York. A British newspaper publisher began Tuesday its court appeal against a judge’s ruling that it invaded the privacy of the Duchess of Sussex by publishing parts of a letter she wrote to her estranged father, arguing that she knew the letter would potentially be published. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah) 
Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave after a service of thanksgiving for the reign of Queen Elizabeth II at St Paul’s Cathedral in London on June 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, Pool, File) 
FILE – In this Thursday, March 17, 2016 file photo, actress Meghan Markle participates in AOL’s BUILD Speaker Series to discuss her role on the television show, “Suits”, in New York. (AP Photo)
Meghan turns off comments, unsure about TikTok
Meghan said she turned the comments off on her Instagram posts for her “own self-preservation,” but responds with handwritten notes to some users.
“I said, let’s find small and creative ways to engage the community and let them know that I’m listening, that I really see and appreciate their feedback,” she said.
Despite reemerging on Instagram, Meghan expressed uncertainty about making the move onto another popular platform.
“I don’t know,” she said, when asked if she would join TikTok.