Prince Harry, Meghan Markle remain committed to Spotify despite COVID-19 criticism

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle do not have plans to cut ties with Spotify despite allegations that the streaming platform is tolerating the spread of misinformation on COVID-19.

A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said the couple first contacted the company to express "concerns" about "the all-too-real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform" in April 2021. They have reportedly "worked to address the real-time global misinformation crisis" since they launched Archewell Foundation.

"Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the serious harms of rampant mis- and disinformation every day," the representative said in a statement posted on Twitter by "Finding Freedom" co-author Omid Scobie.

"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 spokesperson added.

The Duke of Sussex previously blamed "mass-scale misinformation" on the vaccine for people's hesitancy to get the jab. He had hit out at social media platforms and news sites for "peddling lies" and described online misinformation as a "global humanitarian issue." He also called out Joe Rogan for his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine in an interview with Dax Shepard last year.

Regardless of their stance against misinformation on the pandemic, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex still want to work with Spotify. They have to honour their multi-year contract reportedly worth £18million to produce original content under Archewell Audio.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have so far only released one episode in December 2020. Fans wondered if they have not released any new content because of their stance against misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic. One commented on Scobie's post, "I KNEW IT! !! I've been thinking recently that perhaps this has something to do with them not publishing another podcast. They've been on to it the whole time." Another wrote, "So THIS is the excuse they're going to use to part company with Spotify, having been unable to produce anything good enough in over a year. Use someone else's battle. I see."