Meghan Markle Turns Off Instagram Comments — and Here’s Why It Matters

When Meghan Markle returned to Instagram in early 2025, many were quick to notice that she had disabled comments on her account.

On January 1, Meghan, 43, made her long-awaited return to the social media platform, posting a video of herself on the beach, writing “2025” in the sand. The video was filmed by her husband, Prince Harry, on a public beach in Montecito, California, where the couple lives with their children Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3. The following day, Meghan used the platform to share a trailer for her upcoming Netflix show With love, Meghanwhich debuts on the streaming service on January 15.

Her return to Instagram marks the first time Meghan has taken to social media on her own since shutting down her personal Instagram account in January 2018 ahead of her royal wedding to Harry that May. Although she and Harry, 40, were featured on two royal social media accounts – @KensingtonRoyal, the account they shared with Prince William and Kate Middleton, and @SussexRoyal, their account, which they retired from in March 2020 – and Meghan’s lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, has its own Instagram page, marking the first time in seven years since Meghan ran her own social network. And at the same time he tries to protect his peace.

Inside Meghan Markle’s complicated relationship with social media as she makes a surprise return to Instagram

During an appearance in October 2020 on Therapy for teenagers podcast, Meghan talked about being “the most trolled person in the entire world” the year before.

“I don’t care if you’re 15 or 25, if people say things about you that aren’t true, what it does to your mental and emotional health is so damaging,” she said, adding later in the episode “we all know what it feels like to be hurt .”

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attends the “Keynote: Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen,” during the SXSW 2024 Conference and Festival at the Austin Convention Center on March 8, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP

Meghan Markle on being ‘the most trolled person in the whole world’: ‘Almost didn’t survive’

In an episode of the 2022 Netflix documentaries Harry & Meghantearfully opened up to Meghan about how threats made against her on social media have affected her life: “I think people should really understand, you know, when you plant a seed that’s so hateful, what it can grow into,” she said.

“Just a few days ago, I was going through the manual for our security team at home, and one of the pages I stumbled upon was talking about online surveillance,” she added. “And they say, ‘If you see a tweet like this, please report it to the head of security immediately.’ And it just said, ‘Meghan just needs to die. Someone has to kill her. Maybe it should be me.’ ”

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive for a long walk at Windsor Castle to view flowers and pay tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth on September 10, 2022 in Windsor, England.

Chris Jackson/Getty

“And I just said, ‘Okay.’ That’s what the world really is because of people who create hate,” she continued. “I’m a mom. That’s my real life. And it’s a piece when you see it and say, ‘You make people want to kill me. It’s not just a tabloid. It’s not just a story. You scare me.’ Right?”

“That night, being up and down in the middle of the night, looking down the hall, like, ‘Are we safe? Is the door locked? Is insurance included?’ Is every — that’s real. ‘Are my babies safe?’ And what did you create it for? Because you’re bored or because he sells you newspapers or because you feel better about your own life? It’s real what you do. And it’s a piece that I don’t think people fully understand.”

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attends the “Keynote: Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen,” during the 2024 SXSW Conference and Festival on March 8, 2024 in Austin, Texas.

SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP/Getty

In 2021, Twitter analytics service Bot Sentinel revealed that Harry and Meghan were the target of a “brazenly coordinated” harassment campaign on the platform, and that a “hate network” of just 83 accounts was responsible for 70% of the harassment directed at them. The campaign included “racist coded language” and had a unique potential reach of 17 million users.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave after a service of thanksgiving for Queen Elizabeth II’s reign at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, Friday, June 3, 2022, for the second of four days of Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Matt Dunham – WPA Collection/Getty

Speaking on WealthAt the Most Powerful Women virtual summit a year before, Meghan spoke about what it takes to create humane technology, saying: “It’s like we’re living in the future when you’re talking about bots and trolls and all that stuff. It seems so fantastical, but it’s actually the current state of affairs, and it’s shaping the way we interact with each other online and offline—and that’s the part that matters. It is not just an isolated experience. It goes beyond the way you interact with anyone around you, and certainly your relationship with yourself.”

She added about the misinformation about her specifically: “If you look back at everything I said, what ends up being incitement is people’s interpretation. But if you listen to what I’m actually saying, it’s not controversial.”

“When you look at what these platforms are capable of with that reach and what it encourages in terms of trolling… You can either train people to be cruel or you can train them to be kind. It really is that simple,” Meghan continued.

Meghan Markle addresses the audience during the “Afro Women and Power” forum at the Municipal Theater in Cali, Colombia on August 18, 2024.

RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty

During a visit to Colombia with Harry in August, Meghan said she was calling this next phase of her life her “chapter of joy” – and turning off the commentary is likely a factor in that goal.

“My intention is to enjoy this chapter and be able to get through every part of it as best as I can,” Meghan said while staying in the South American country.

Rejoining Instagram gives Meghan the ability to connect and share with her followers – but not allowing comments serves as a safeguard against negativity. After a few years away from social media, a source says Meghan is “excited” to return to Instagram, where she plans to spread “joy” and share updates on her latest projects.

One of the cornerstones of Harry and Meghan’s work with their nonprofit The Archewell Foundation is creating a safer digital world, Meghan told Jane Pauley on the episode CBS Sunday Morning in August, “As we can see what’s happening in the online space, we know there’s a lot of work out there and we’re happy to be a part of the change forever.”

Meghan Markle in September 2023 in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Getty Images

One change Meghan has expressed she’d like to make on social media is adding a “dislike” button to the platforms, as she explained in November 2021. The New York Times DealBook Online Summit: “One of the things that seems like such an easy fix from my lens, if you look at Instagram, for example, there’s a ‘like’ button and then comments,” she said. “So if you don’t agree with something, you have to comment on it in a really sharp way. If there was a dislike button, wouldn’t that make a huge difference to what you put out there? Because you can simply ‘like’ it or ‘dislike’ it.”

“Now you have to ‘like’ it or say something negative,” she continued. “It’s just adding to this really unfortunate cycle that I think is having an unfortunate effect on women around the world.”

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Last March, while speaking at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas, Meghan added comments on social media that “very, very inflammatory comments and conspiracy theories” can have a “horribly negative effect on someone’s mental health, on their physical safety” — so perhaps it’s no surprise that comments were disabled on @meghan’s account when it debuted, amassing a million followers in just 24 hours of its existence.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education