LONDON -- Former US President Barack Obama has warned against the irresponsible use of social media in an interview by British Prince Harry on BBC Radio 4's Today on Wednesday.

In the interview, which is rare since the ex-president's stepping down nearly a year ago, Obama said that the irresponsible use of social media was distorting people's understanding of complex issues, and spreading misinformation.

"All of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the internet," he said.

Obama told Harry that one of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities.

They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases, he added.

Obama's successor Donald Trump has been accused of overusing Twitter, and involved in a number of rows over his expressions in the cyber space.

Prince Harry is one of several prominent figures who are guest-editing the BBC program over the Christmas period.