The Royals Just Announced New Social Media Rules That Send A Big Message To Toxic Trolls

The royal family is cracking down on social media trolls... finally! After months of dealing with less-than-positive people on social media, the royal family is letting everyone know that they’ve had enough of the internet’s toxicity, especially where negative comments and spam are concerned. The royals’ new social media rules have likely been put in place to protect the most precious members of the family, like Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton, both of whom have been the subject of a lot of negativity as of late.

So, just what are these new social media rules and how on earth does the royal family plan on implementing them? Well, according to a March 4 press release, the royal family asks that anyone who wishes to comment on social media posts follow a few simple rules. According to the press release, comments on social media must not:

• “Contain spam, be defamatory of any person, deceive others, be obscene, offensive, threatening, abusive, hateful, inflammatory or promote sexually explicit material or violence.”
• “Promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age.”
• “Breach any of the terms of any of the social media platforms themselves.”
• “Be off-topic, irrelevant or unintelligible.”
• “Contain any advertising or promote any services.”

Now, how are they going to make sure people follow these guidelines? The royal family has a plan of attack for that and they laid it all out in the press release. The royal family will apparently hide or delete any comments that aren’t to their liking, much like anyone else on social media.

“We reserve the right to determine, at our discretion, whether contributions to our social media channels breach our guidelines. We reserve the right to hide or delete comments made on our channels, as well as block users who do not follow these guidelines,” the press release read. “We also reserve the right to send any comments we deem appropriate to law enforcement authorities for investigation as we feel necessary or is required by law.”

So, the royals truly are making an effort to ensure that no one in their inner circle is the subject of negative social media commentary. Plus, they’re also doing what they can to keep comments and community discussions on topic. And you know what? That’s a much-needed step, especially with so much negativity floating around certain members of the royal family.

Take, for example, that rumored feud between Duchess Meghan and Duchess Kate. Back in January 2019, the internet was abuzz with rumors that the two didn’t see eye-to-eye, and those rumors sent fans into a tailspin that landed them on the royal family’s social media accounts.

According to a Jan. 28 report from Hello Magazine, Kensington Palace was spending hours monitoring comments about the feud from fans. A source close to the situation told the publication that the palace monitored social media regularly, but things only got worse once those feud rumors started circulating.

"The Palace has always monitored comments but it’s a hugely time consuming thing. They can block certain words, but some of it is quite serious," the source explained before delving into what eventually made social media such a nightmare.

"It follows a Kate vs. Meghan narrative and some of the worst stuff is between Kate fans and Meghan fans," the source continued. "Arguments about who looks more appropriate, for example, that turn into personal attacks on other users. It’s creating a supercharged atmosphere and everyone can join in, but what are the consequences of this?"

So, these social media guidelines from the royal family are definitely a long time coming. It’s about time they did something!