Prince Harry and Meghan invite families to join their push against predatory social media practices

NEW YORK (AP) — Prince Harry and Meghan urged parents to stand against social media companies that they said lure children with predatory algorithms designed to exploit their data amid the “explosion of unregulated artificial intelligence.”

“Like so many parents, we think constantly about how to embrace technology’s benefits while safeguarding against its dangers," Meghan said Thursday night at Spring Studios in Manhattan as the couple was named Humanitarians of the Year by the nonprofit Project Healthy Minds. "And that hopeful intention of separation is rapidly becoming impossible.”

Underscoring that point, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex cited research from ParentsTogether. The advocacy group's staff, posing as children, reported experiencing a harmful interaction every five minutes they spent with an artificial intelligence chatbot on the app Character.AI.

“This wasn’t content created by a third party. These were the companies’ own chatbots working to advance their own depraved internal policies," Prince Harry said. "But here’s what gives us hope: these families aren’t facing this alone.”

Their comments came at the annual gala for Project Healthy Minds, a millennial- and Gen Z-driven tech nonprofit that runs a free online marketplace aiming to connect patients with the exact mental health care they seek. To multiply their movement of families fighting for online safety, the couple also announced Thursday that their foundation’s Parents Network would join forces with ParentsTogether.

ParentsTogether Executive Director Ailen Arreaza described their effort as “a David vs. Goliath fight.”

"We are up against these multi-billionaire companies that are actively trying to get our kids addicted,” Arreaza said Friday at Project Healthy Minds’ World Mental Health Day Festival. “And so, we really try to destigmatize that shame and guilt that parents might feel.”

The Duke and Duchess have made youth mental health a cornerstone of their philanthropic work since launching the Archewell Foundation in 2020 after stepping aside as working royals. Through its community of families who have experienced online harm and support for youth-led organizations shaping responsible technology, the nonprofit works to make digital spaces safer.

Their push has since expanded to not just stress social media's harms but highlight platforms’ design features that they blame for amplify damaging content.

At a World Mental Health Day Festival panel presented by the Archewell Foundation, young people described how they believe lacking regulations expose them to online spaces ready to capitalize on their emotional needs and difficulties with self-regulating.

One teenage advocate said she developed an eating disorder as TikTok's algorithm pushed weight-loss recipe videos onto her infinitely scrolling “For You” page.

“When we talk about social media and how young people rely on it, we also need to talk about: how can we address these needs in-person so that they're getting the same support that they need?” Hopelab research assistant Jayla Stokesberry said.

Prince Harry has previously stressed the need to hold powerful social media companies accountable. He warned last year that young people are experiencing an “epidemic” of anxiety, depression and social isolation driven by negative experiences online.

According to numerous studies, few guardrails exist to mitigate kids’ exposure to age-inappropriate content including pornography and violence on social media, where they also face cyberbullying and sexual harassment.

The issue could also be considered personal for the couple. Meghan has been open about her mental health struggles due to what she describes as the royal family’s intense pressures and tabloid attacks. Harry’s own personal life has been the subject of much tabloid reporting, including targeted phone hacking and surveillance.

“Culture makers” such as Prince Harry and Meghan are important voices in mental health conversations because they inspire their enormous audiences to seek care, according to Project Healthy Minds CEO Phil Schermer.

But Schermer emphasized that the “moment of inspiration is fleeting” and it's important for celebrities to take the extra step of partnering with trusted organizations that can actually deliver care.

He pointed to NBC television personality Carson Daly, the gala's host, as an example. Daly opened up about his own anxiety on the air after reading a 2018 essay by NBA champion Kevin Love about an in-game panic attack.

Daly, a Project Healthy Minds board member, said mental health is now the most common topic that comes up when fans recognize him in public.

“I was like, ’I want to put all my eggs in this basket' because I see the power even when I tell my story, it unlocks so many other people telling their story,” Daly told the Associated Press. “And I think that process — that’s how the destigmatization works.”

The money raised Thursday night will help the nonprofit build new filters that break down care options by users' insurance providers and preferences for in-person or telehealth services, according to Schermer. He compared the features to those on travel planning sites such as Expedia that allow flyers to choose their preferred times, prices and airlines.

Schermer said that having a recognizable host in Daly also helps “make it cool to talk about your emotions.”

“It’s not just the absence of a stigma,” Schermer said. "It’s also the presence of a sense of pride that by being vulnerable, being honest, being open, that that’s actually your greatest superpower.”

Thursday night’s honorees included Indianapolis Colts co-owner and chief brand officer Kalen Jackson. The NFL executive — who talks openly about dealing with anxiety — has continued the team’s staunch support for mental health after the death of her father and beloved former owner Jim Irsay.

Project Healthy Minds recognized Jackson with its inaugural Sports Visionary of the Year Award, presented by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Jackson leads her family’s Kicking The Stigma initiative, which raises awareness about mental health disorders and tries to expand access to care across Indiana and country.

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Savannah Guthrie attends the third annual World Mental Health Day Gala, hosted by Project Healthy Minds, at Spring Studios on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Lukas Graham attends the third annual World Mental Health Day Gala, hosted by Project Healthy Minds, at Spring Studios on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Carson Daly, left, Roger Goodell and Savannah Guthrie attend the third annual World Mental Health Day Gala, hosted by Project Healthy Minds, at Spring Studios on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Meghan Markle, left, and Prince Harry, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, center, pose with Project Healthy Minds founder and CEO Phillip Schermer at the third annual World Mental Health Day Gala, hosted by Project Healthy Minds, at Spring Studios on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Meghan Markle, left, and Prince Harry, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, attend the third annual World Mental Health Day Gala, hosted by Project Healthy Minds, at Spring Studios on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans voted to dismiss a war powers resolution Wednesday that would have limited President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks on Venezuela after two GOP senators reversed course on supporting the legislation.

Trump put intense pressure on five Republican senators who joined with Democrats to advance the resolution last week and ultimately prevailed in heading off passage of the legislation. Two of the Republicans — Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Todd Young of Indiana — flipped under the pressure.

Vice President JD Vance had to break the 50-50 deadlock in the Senate on a Republican motion to dismiss the bill.

The outcome of the high-profile vote demonstrated how Trump still has command over much of the Republican conference, yet the razor-thin vote tally also showed the growing concern on Capitol Hill over the president’s aggressive foreign policy ambitions.

Democrats forced the debate after U.S. troops captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid earlier this month

“Here we have one of the most successful attacks ever and they find a way to be against it. It’s pretty amazing. And it’s a shame,” Trump said at a speech in Michigan Tuesday. He also hurled insults at several of the Republicans who advanced the legislation, calling Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky a “stone cold loser” and Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine “disasters.” Those three Republicans stuck to their support for the legislation.

Trump’s latest comments followed earlier phone calls with the senators, which they described as terse. The president’s fury underscored how the war powers vote had taken on new political significance as Trump also threatens military action to accomplish his goal of possessing Greenland.

The legislation, even if it had cleared the Senate, had virtually no chance of becoming law because it would eventually need to be signed by Trump himself. But it represented both a test of GOP loyalty to the president and a marker for how much leeway the Republican-controlled Senate is willing to give Trump to use the military abroad. Republican angst over his recent foreign policy moves — especially threats of using military force to seize Greenland from a NATO ally — is still running high in Congress.

Hawley, who helped advance the war powers resolution last week, said Trump’s message during a phone call was that the legislation “really ties my hands.” The senator said he had a follow-up phone call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio Monday and was told “point blank, we’re not going to do ground troops.”

The senator added that he also received assurances that the Trump administration will follow constitutional requirements if it becomes necessary to deploy troops again to the South American country.

“We’re getting along very well with Venezuela,” Trump told reporters at a ceremony for the signing of an unrelated bill Wednesday.

As senators went to the floor for the vote Wednesday evening, Young also told reporters he was no longer in support. He said that he had extensive conversations with Rubio and received assurances that the secretary of state will appear at a public hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Young also shared a letter from Rubio that stated the president will “seek congressional authorization in advance (circumstances permitting)” if he engaged in “major military operations” in Venezuela.

The senators also said his efforts were also instrumental in pushing the administration to release Wednesday a 22-page Justice Department memo laying out the legal justification for the snatch-and-grab operation against Maduro.

That memo, which was heavily redacted, indicates that the administration, for now, has no plans to ramp up military operations in Venezuela.

“We were assured that there is no contingency plan to engage in any substantial and sustained operation that would amount to a constitutional war,” according to the memo signed by Assistant Attorney General Elliot Gaiser.

Trump has used a series of legal arguments for his campaign against Maduro.

As he built up a naval force in the Caribbean and destroyed vessels that were allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, the Trump administration tapped wartime powers under the global war on terror by designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations.

The administration has claimed the capture of Maduro himself was actually a law enforcement operation, essentially to extradite the Venezuelan president to stand trial for charges in the U.S. that were filed in 2020.

Paul criticized the administration for first describing its military build-up in Caribbean as a counternarcotics operation but now floating Venezuela’s vast oil reserves as a reason for maintaining pressure.

"The bait and switch has already happened,” he said.

Lawmakers, including a significant number of Republicans, have been alarmed by Trump’s recent foreign policy talk. In recent weeks, he has pledged that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela for years to come, threatened military action to take possession of Greenland and told Iranians protesting their government that “ help is on its way.”

Senior Republicans have tried to massage the relationship between Trump and Denmark, a NATO ally that holds Greenland as a semi-autonomous territory. But Danish officials emerged from a meeting with Vance and Rubio Wednesday saying a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains.

"What happened tonight is a roadmap to another endless war," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said at a news conference following the vote.

More than half of U.S. adults believe President Donald Trump has “gone too far” in using the U.S. military to intervene in other countries, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

House Democrats have also filed a similar war powers resolution and can force a vote on it as soon as next week.

Last week's procedural vote on the war powers resolution was supposed to set up hours of debate and a vote on final passage. But Republican leaders began searching for a way to defuse the conflict between their members and Trump as well as move on quickly to other business.

Once Hawley and Young changed their support for the bill, Republicans were able to successfully challenge whether it was appropriate when the Trump administration has said U.S. troops are not currently deployed in Venezuela.

“We’re not currently conducting military operations there,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune in a floor speech. “But Democrats are taking up this bill because their anti-Trump hysteria knows no bounds.”

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who has brought a series of war powers resolutions this year, accused Republicans of burying a debate about the merits of an ongoing campaign of attacks and threats against Venezuela.

"If this cause and if this legal basis were so righteous, the administration and its supporters would not be afraid to have this debate before the public and the United States Senate," he said in a floor speech.

Associated Press writers Josh Goodman, Lisa Mascaro, Mary Clare Jalonick and Joey Cappelletti in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., talks with reporters outside the Senate chamber during a vote at the Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks with reporters at the Senate Subway on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)