By Matt Davies

Copyright manchestereveningnews

King Charles opened up about a major concern in an eye-opening 40-minute conversation with a church minister. expressed significant concerns about the “negative influences” of social media during a 40-minute conversation with Rev Tommy MacNeil, a church minister. The 76-year-old monarch , who was speaking to Rev Tommy MacNeil around his Shed Project charity – a community centre serving young people on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. Rev MacNeil, who usually leads the congregation at Stornoway’s Martin’s Memorial Church, had given a sermon to the King and Queen Camilla at Balmoral Castle on Sunday, September 28. Recalling their conversation, he said: “We spoke for 40 minutes and the King was clearly well briefed about the Shed and what we are doing.” The King was deeply concerned about the negative impact that social media is having on young people. Rev MacNeil continued: “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.” Rev MacNeil noted that the King was “very engaged” and showed appreciation for the work of the group. He also highlighted the fact that today’s youth are growing up in a “different world”, where the content they can access on their phones is “frightening”. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he added: “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 expressed their worries about the difficulties young people face in this age of social media. William has previously discussed the potential negative effects of social media , including an increase in bullying and the creation of a “cultural and political echo chamber”. In a speech delivered in 2018, he cautioned: “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.” He highlighted that: “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.” William further noted: “The platform that can allow you to celebrate diversity can also be used to cocoon yourself in a cultural and political echo chamber.” He also emphasised that new ways to access global news also enable misinformation and conspiracy theories to “pollute” the public sphere, observing that websites designed to connect people can also foster “loneliness and inadequacy”. Meanwhile, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex , unveiled The Lost Screen Memorial in New York in April and urged for more measures to shield children from the perils 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.” Nevertheless, he recognised a “sad reality”, explaining children without social media encounter bullying as they cannot participate in the “same conversation” as their peers. The Lost Screen Memorial displays 50 illuminated boxes, crafted to resemble mobile phones. Each display shows a photograph of a youngster whose life was tragically ended due to the “harms of social media”.