It’s been an eventful week for discourse around Spotify, with both Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulling their music from the streaming service. Both cited frustration with the presence of COVID-19 disinformation found on the platform, with Young expressing particular frustration with some of the contents of Joe Rogan’s podcast. A new report suggests that they’re not the only high-profile voices concerned with what’s being said on the platform.
According to a new report at The Guardian, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — who signed a podcasting deal with Spotify in 2020 — have also raised concerns about people getting false information about the pandemic from the platform.
The article cites comments made by a spokesperson for the couple’s nonprofit group, the Archewell Foundation. “Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the serious harms of rampant mis- and disinformation every day,” the spokesperson said. “Last April, our co-founders began expressing concerns to our partners at Spotify about the all-too-real consequences of Covid-19 misinformation on its platform.”
They stopped short of walking away from their deal, however; the comments end with an assertion that they are “committed to continuing our work together” with Spotify.
And with other podcasters with Spotify deals — specifically, Brené Brown — also pushing back against disinformation, momentum to take some kind of action appears to be picking up.
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