The Royal Family would like the world to know, in no uncertain terms, that social media abuse of any kind is not OK — and will be reported to law enforcement if necessary.
The Firm just published a set of social media guidelines for anyone looking to engage or comment on the royal social media channels, and the rules are generally all things that you'd think would go without saying: don't be threatening, hateful, or racist; don't post irrelevant nonsense or spam; don't be obscene.
Should anyone breach those conditions, the royals won't hesitate to delete their comments, kick the offender off their channels, or " send any comments we deem appropriate to law enforcement authorities for investigation as we feel necessary."
This comes on the heels of a January report that palace staff have to spend hours moderating hateful comments directed at Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, largely by die-hard fans of one of the two duchesses, who seem to think they're defending their fave by either attacking the other, or the other's fans.
"Arguments about who looks more appropriate, for example ... turn into personal attacks on other users," a palace source told Hello! at the time. "It's creating a supercharged atmosphere and everyone can join in, but what are the consequences of this?"
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The idea of the Duchess of Sussex and the Duchess of Cambridge are in conflict has been inflamed by reports by many different tabloids. It's worth remembering that Kate and Meghan have only ever been friendly and deferential to one another in public, that the "catfight" narrative between two influential women has always been a tabloid go-to, and that there's obviously no way either duchess would want their supporters publicly attacking their sister-in-law.
Let's hope that from now on, the royal Instagram accounts become a more pleasant place for everyone.
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