Harry And Meghan’s ‘Concerns’ About Joe Rogan Could Drive Anti-Speech Aspen Institute Project
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry weighed in on the Spotify controversy this week, “expressing concerns” about Covid misinformation as the censorship police endeavor to deplatform Joe Rogan. Prince Harry, who declared the First Amendment “bonkers” last year, also serves on the Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder, a vehicle for corporate donors to generate items justifying censorship.
On Sunday, the couple released a statement from the Archewell Foundation, which the pair founded in 2020, raising alarm over “hundreds of millions of people” who are “affected by the serious harms of rampant mis- and disinformation every day.” The couple signed their own exclusive multi-year podcast partnership with the streaming service when they launched their latest venture, with only one episode published to date.
“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 said. “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.”
While not mentioning Rogan by name, the statement came on the heels of Spotify announcing it will add a “content advisory” to podcasts discussing Covid-19, including Rogan’s, after other artists pledged to strip their content from the service absent outright censorship of Rogan. Longtime music star Neil Young was the first major name to offer Spotify an ultimatum last week over “fake information about vaccines.”
“They can have Rogan, or Young. Not both,” Young wrote in an open letter. Spotify chose Rogan.
Young’s call for censorship, however, ignited a movement among left-wing content producers, who offered their own ultimatums to drop the Rogan podcast, which the Swedish company bought the rights to for $100 million in the summer of 2020.
The Aspen Institute did not respond to The Federalist’s repeated inquiries about whether the Institute would stand by its member’s perceived attacks on Rogan in an environment where narratives contrary to the media-manufactured consensus are labeled “misinformation.”
Other members of the commission include Katie Couric, who co-chairs the group and admitted in October to selectively editing a 2016 interview with now-deceased Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Couric toned down Ginsburg’s criticism of the NFL kneeling protests led by 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in an episode of routine manipulation by the legacy journalist.
In January last year, Couric also called for efforts to “deprogram” Republicans.
Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.
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