There Are No Girls on the Internet - DISINFORMED: Meghan Markle has been the target of a racist harassment campaign

Episode Date: March 10, 2021

Research is clear that Black women are disproportionately the targets of online harassment. And even though she’s rich and famous, the story Meghan Markle’s shared in her interview with Oprah is no different than the kinds of abuse that has been normalized against Black women for years.Want more info about how the media can spread biases about women public figures? Here’s a guide we made at UltraViolet: https://weareultraviolet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/uv-vp-reporting-styleguide-v3.pdfDid you watch Prince Harry and Meghan’s interview? Let us know what you thought at [e-mail] Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Just a heads up, today's episode contains mentions of suicidal ideation. You're listening to Disinformed, a mini-series from There Are No Girls on the Internet. I'm Bridget Todd. Today I wanted to do a quick special episode breaking down Prince Harry and Megan Markle's interview with Oprah that aired on CBS this past weekend.

So I'm not someone who really follows the Royals very closely, though I was pretty excited at the possibility of getting a black princess. Even though, I know, I know, she was a Duchess, not a princess. Now, because I'm not so interested in the Royals, I almost didn't watch the Oprah interview with Megan Markle and Prince Harry. And I'm really glad I did because Megan's story fits into what we already know about racist, sexist disinformation and online harassment campaigns. And I wanted to talk a little bit about that today.

Now, if you haven't watched the interview, I'm going to be talking about it in specifics during this episode. When I first watched the interview, so much of it rang true for me. I was watching it while scrolling Twitter and all my black woman friends were being like, yes, yes, yes, I know exactly what she's talking about. even though technically none of us are actual princesses. Megan's story of being a black woman facing racist abuse and harassment online is sadly pretty universal. It's something a lot of us have already dealt with. You might not be surprised to learn that we have a digital media landscape that traffics and distortions that rely on unfair biases. And we already know that black women face more harassment and abuse online.

A study from Amnesty International found that black women got 84% more abuse and harassment online than their white counterfeit. parts. So that means that Megan was really going through it. This is what black feminist scholar Moia Bailey has called massagenoir, or the toxic combination of racism and sexism that black women can face. And because Megan is a black woman, her race and gender are uniquely weaponized against her to fuel attacks rooted in stereotypes about her identity. Now, this is a good time to say that there's a pretty big difference between the kinds of rude, catty gossip that other members of the royal family are accustomed to getting, and the kinds of racist, sexist attacks that Megan endured. Here's how Megan put it in her interview. If they can compare what the experience that I went

through was similar to what has been shared with us, Kate was called Waity Katie, waiting to marry William. While I imagine that was really hard, and I do, I can't picture what that felt like. This is not the same. And if a member of his family will comfortably say, we've all had to deal with things that are rude, rude and racist are not the same. So what exactly has this racialized abuse campaign against Megan looked like? Well, it means that she has to deal with floods of inaccurate news items, where the storyline is one rooted in unfair stereotypes or distortions that rely on her race and gender to paint Megan out as being angry or emotional or crazy or untrustworthy.

Just look at one of the big stories that Megan talked about in her Oprah interview, the infamous Megan made Kate Cry headline. So headline after headline framed Megan as a bully who made her, sister-in-law Kate Middleton cried during a dress fitting for her wedding. But according to the interview with Oprah, it was actually Megan who cried, and Kate actually sent Megan an apology letter afterward. Now, it's easy to see how framing a black woman as driving a white woman to tears is meant to capitalize on a racist trope about black women being angry. Importantly, Megan says that everybody in the royal family knew the truth of what happened in this situation. But no one actually came forward

and corrected the record. They just let this racially charged story fester and grow online and in the media. Now, when we're dealing with racialized bias, it can mean there are completely different standards, one for women of color or black women, and another for everyone else. This is actually a pretty pervasive thing in our culture, and even though it's something that can be subtle and difficult to see. Just take a look at how headlines praised Kate Middleton for certain behavior while trashing Megan for that very same behavior. Kate was praised by the Daily Mail for, quote, tenderly cradling her baby bump, while the same publication wondered if Megan putting her hands on her pregnant belly

was a show of pride or vanity. And it kind of gets to the point where it's ridiculous. The magazine The Express called pregnant Kate eating avocado, quote, good for baby. Meanwhile, that same magazine linked avocado to human rights abuses in a piece about Megan enjoying avocado. This pretty clearly establishes that there are two sets of rules, one for white women like Kate, and another harsher standard for women of color like Megan. What makes this even harder is the fact that it's not really considered polite

to talk about your experiences with racism in public. Even watching the interview, it's clear to me in probably every black person who watched it, that Megan is only telling a fraction of what she actually went through. She's still being so diplomatic. For instance, she refused to say exactly who in the royal family expressed concerns about how dark her son Archie's skin would be. It's clear the royal family wants to act like race wasn't a factor in how she's being treated, when it so obviously is.

Online harassment campaigns are never race-neutral. The media landscape doesn't just amplify these racist, sexist attacks that Megan faced. They actually profit off of them. In her interview, Megan points out the symbiotic relationship between the royal family and the press. Coverage of the royals sells papers, and in turn, helps keep the royals relevant. But as we know, when coverage traffics and people's racialized hate and biases, everything gets more intense. Megan says, there's a construct that's at play here.

They were so attacking and inciting so much racism. It changed the risk level because it wasn't just caddy gossip. It was breaking out a part of people that was racist and how it was charged, and that changed the threat. That changed the level of death threats we got. That changed everything. Now, it's kind of a funny example, but this YouTube prank show pretty much shows that royal commentators,

including the Queen's former press secretary, Dickie Arbiter, CNN's Royal Commentator, Victoria Arbiter, and Majesty Magazine editor, Ingrid Seward, were all pretty much fine getting paid money to lie about Megan and Harry on television. The pranksters pretended to be with a production company who asked the royal commentators to comment on the interview before it was even out yet. And they had no issue lying about their reaction to something that they hadn't even seen. Here's the clip. In the interview, to my mind, this was an actress giving one. of her great performances, from start to finish, Megan was acting. Megan is a public figure, so naturally people are allowed to talk about her, but there's a

pretty big difference between commentary and harassment. Megan shared in her Oprah interview that the abuse that she got drove her to suicidal ideation. On Good Morning Britain on Monday, Pierce Morgan used his platform to mock her for it, saying, I don't believe anything she says. I wouldn't believe it if she read me a weather report. His comment sparked an investigation from media regulator off-cam after more than 41,000 people wrote in to complain about his comment in the irresponsible way they depicted mental health challenges. Pierce has been using his platform to harshly criticize Megan for years,

and on Tuesday, he actually walked off of his own show because weatherman Alex, Barrisford, pushed back. And I understand that you've got a personal relationship with Meg, Markle, or had one, and she cut you off. She's entitled to cut you off if she wants to. Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don't think she has,

but yet you continue to trash her. Okay, I'm done with this. No, no, no. Yep, you heard that right. He tells Pierce Morgan that Megan is entitled to cut him off if she wants to. That's because Pierce Morgan claims

he once had drinks with Megan and that she ghosted him afterward. So what happened? She ghosted me, Ryan. Megan Markle ghosted me. Do you think she just went, gone? I'm afraid. Look, I really liked it.

This is why it hurts. So Pierce Morgan has spent years using his television and media platform to trash and berate a woman that he feels rebuffed his advances. Which is pretty gross. Pierce announced today that he's stepping down from Good Morning Britain. And on Twitter, human rights attorney, Kwasim Rashid, put it pretty aptly. Pierce Morgan quit his job after 90 seconds of gentle critique, but can't understand why Megas, Morgan, Markle, and Prince Harry quit the royal family after several years of racist abuse. Now, Megan and Harry have actually done a lot of good work combating social media hate and

mis-and-discinformation online. Here's Megan talking to the 19th about the way social media has inflamed our discourse and made us all more polarized. This economy for attention, right? That is what is monetizable right now when you're looking at the digital space and media. And so if you're just trying to grab someone's attention and keep it, you're going for something salacious versus something truthful. The bottom line is Megan is someone with a lot of status and privilege. She's beautiful.

She has money. She has light skin and a supportive husband. And yet none of these things saved her from the outpouring of racist sexist abuse she faced. Her visibility and her accessed didn't protect her. And really, it never does. And this is just what black women

go through. We've just normalized that it's okay to hurl abuse at black women online. And there's an entire media ecosystem that will amplify it and profit from it. And if this is how bad things got for Megan, then it pushed her to the point of dealing with suicidal ideation. Imagine how bad it is for black women who don't have her access or privileges, whose names you don't know. Megan was really brave for speaking out about what she went through, and it reminds me so much of another brave woman who didn't keep quiet or do what she was told. In Princess Diana's

iconic interview with Martin Bashir in 1995, it almost sounds like she's speaking directly to Megan. I think every strong woman in history has had to walk down a similar path, and I think it's the strength that causes the confusion and the fear. Did you watch Megan and Harry's Oprah interview? We want to hear from you. What did you think? What were your thoughts? You can drop us a line at hello at tangoity.com.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please help us grow by subscribing. Got a story about an interesting thing in tech or just want to say hi? We'd love to hear from you at hello at tangoity.com. Disinformed was brought to you by their note. girls on the internet. It's a production of IHeart Radio and unbossed creative. Jonathan Strickland is our executive producer. Tari Harrison is our supervising producer and engineer. Michael Amato is our contributing producer. I'm your host, Bridget Todd. For more great podcasts, check out the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Another podcast from some SNL

late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman helped make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

you get your podcasts. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the world. the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything.

I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. In every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicalife 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance. I've ever reported on a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know.

Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human.