News : Prince Harry & Meghan Markle Began ‘Expressing Concerns’ to Spotify About COVID-19 Misinformation Last Year

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are calling on Spotify to address and take action on the COVID-19 misinformation on its streaming platform.

“Since the inception of Archewell, we have worked to address the real-time global misinformation crisis. Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the serious harms of rampant mis- and disinformation every day,” a spokesperson for the couple’s foundation Archewell shared in a statement, as reported by People.

“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 statement 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,” the statement concluded.

The statement comes in the wake of musician Neil Young deciding to remove his music from Spotify due to COVID-19 misinformation appearing on the platform. The move was followed by Joni Mitchell and Bruce Springsteen guitarist Nils Lofgren, who will both be removing music in solidarity.

The Joe Rogan Experience, a Spotify exclusive podcast which has received backlash for repeatedly sharing misinformation, last December interviewed vaccine skeptic Dr. Robert Malone, who promoted baseless theories about COVID vaccines. Newsweek reported that the Joe Rogan Experience has an “estimated 11 million people” listening to each episode, though Spotify has not officially confirmed how many users subscribe to the podcast.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek revealed on Sunday (Jan. 30) the company’s updated platform rules and a new approach to dealing with COVID-19 information, including adding a dedicated content advisory to podcast episodes that contain discussions about the virus.

The movement is relevant for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who announced a “multi-year partnership” between Spotify and their production company Archewell Audio in December 2020.