Neil Young Spends $20K to Disengage Website From Facebook, Google

The musician called the social media platform "corrupt"

Neil Young performs on stage in Hyde Park on July 12, 2019 in London, England
Neil Young performs in Hyde Park in July 2019.
Matthew Baker/Getty Images

Neil Young has never been one to back down from what he believes in, so this should come as no surprise: the legendary musician announced that he has spent $20,000 to remove Facebook and Google logins to his Neil Young Archives website because of the companies’ policies regarding the upcoming presidential election.

“We have been working on this project for a couple of months. Trying to disengage from the corrupt social platform is a costly and time-consuming process for NYA,” Young explained in a message posted to the site. “Our cost will be almost $20,000 to disengage, while treating our subscribers with respect, making it as easy as possible for them to continue with us after Facebook. Facebook knowingly allows untruths and lies in its political ads to circulate on the platform, while bots sow discord among users. Sowing dissent and chaos in our country via political disinformation is something we cannot condone. Simply put, Facebook is screwing with our election.”

Young didn’t address his issues with Google in the post. Fans who use Google or Facebook to log in to the site will be asked to transition to using their email address and a password to log in.

As Variety reports, “It is unclear why that process costs $20,000, or why he is disabling Google logins when the issues stated in the announcement are with Facebook; a rep for Young did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for clarification.”

“NYA strives to be a place where music lovers can get all of my music at its highest quality, while keeping up on news and views from around the world that we wish to share,” Young wrote.
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