Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Criticized by Commentator for Speaking Out Against Spotify: ‘What They Think They Can Contribute, I Do Not Know’
Ever since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as senior royals in 2020, the couple has been using their platform to share their thoughts on various issues around the world.
Harry and Meghan recently voiced concerns about Spotify, a company they have a working deal with. However, some critics have slammed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for speaking out against the streaming giant. For example, one commentator does not think their thoughts on this issue merit sharing on a public platform.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoke out about ‘misinformation’ on Spotify
On Jan. 30, Harry and Meghan’s spokesperson shared that the couple has concerns about COVID-19 misinformation being allowed to spread on Spotify’s podcasts. This came about after singers such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell decided to remove their music from Spotify for this reason.
“Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the serious harms of rampant mis- and disinformation every day,” the spokesperson said (via Reuters). “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.”
The spokesperson continued, “We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis. We look to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does.”
Spotify previously stated it has “great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators” and that the company had “removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID since the start of the pandemic.”
The Sussexes’ statement is criticized by a commentator
Not everyone was pleased to learn that the Sussexes had shared their thoughts on the matter. Author and political commentator Douglas Murray recently slammed Harry and Meghan.
“We do need to hear from them, don’t we?” Murray told Sky News Australia. “Because whenever there are issues to do with not just politics but the significance of truth and anything to do with deep thinking and anything to do with the public mood, what you really need is to hear from a prince and a duchess from their house in California.”
Murray continued, “It’s absolutely crucial that we get the duke and duchess’ line on anything. I’m a great fan of the royal family. I am not a fan of these former members. What they think they can contribute, I do not know.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have often spoken out about misinformation
This past year, Harry and Meghan have been speaking publicly about the danger of misinformation in the tabloids and on social media.
In November 2021, Harry talked about this at Wired Magazine’s RE-WIRED event. The duke said, “Misinformation is a global humanitarian crisis … I learned from a very early age that the incentives of publishing are not necessarily aligned with the incentives of truth… [They] sadly conflate profit with purpose, and news with entertainment. They don’t report the news, they create it, and they’ve tuned fact-based news into opinion-based gossip.”
Around the same time, Meghan also spoke about this same subject at The New York Times’ DealBook Online Summit.
“We all lose when misinformation sells more than truth, when moral exploitation sells more than decency, and when companies create their business model to profit from people’s pain,” she said.
