Ammon News - Meghan Markle said she experienced “cruel” online bullying while she was pregnant with both of her children.

Speaking on a panel at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, on Friday, Markle said she is keeping her “distance from [social media] right now just for my own well-being.”

The “bulk” of the social media and online “bullying and abuse” she said she has experienced was when she was pregnant with her children, Archie and Lilibet, and while she had a newborn.

Markle had her first child with Prince Harry, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, on May 6, 2019.

The couple then welcomed Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor two years later, on June 4, 2021.

“You really wrap your head around why people would be so hateful,” Markle said of the social media bullying she experienced. “It’s not catty, it’s cruel.”

Markle acknowledged that there is “so much work to be done in terms of keeping people safe” in the current social media landscape, especially considering what children are exposed to, while also appreciating the dichotomy that can exist on social media platforms.

NBC