Prince Harry issued a 15-point list of demands Tuesday to drive leaders and the tech industry in the fight against fake news.
The sixth in line to the British throne declared misinformation a “global humanitarian issue” and “superspreaders” who resist must be held to account “regardless of location, or political views, or role in society.”
Harry, who has previously voiced his concerns about an “avalanche of misinformation” driven by digital media, was involved in a six-month study on the state of the U.S. media conducted by the Aspen Institute’s new Commission on Information Disorder.
The multi-millionaire Montecito, California, resident was one of 15 commissioners on the report who contributed via research and working groups. Others included Kathryn Murdoch, co-founder of the Quadrivium Foundation along with her husband, James Murdoch – the youngest son of media tycoon Rupert.
U.S. TV journalist Katie Couric was also part of the team working alongside the prince who has spent the better part of two years calling the world to account on a host of issues.
A statement on the Archewell website details 15 key recommendations “for leaders to consider adopting across the public, private, and non-profit sectors.”
The report calls for “a new proposal regarding social media platform immunity” and ideas are needed to reverse the collapse of local journalism and the erosion of trusted media. The guidelines for those who resist are clear. It demands leaders:
Hold superspreaders of mis- and disinformation to account with clear, transparent, and consistently applied policies that enable quicker, more decisive actions and penalties, commensurate with their impacts — regardless of location, or political views, or role in society.
Of the report, tHarry said: “For the better part of a year, we at the Aspen Commission have met regularly to debate, discuss, and draft solutions to the mis- and disinformation crisis, which is a global humanitarian issue.
“I hope to see the substantive and practical recommendations of our Commission taken up by the tech industry, the media industry, by policymakers, and leaders. This affects not some of us, but all of us.”
This is not the first time Harry has turned on the media.
As Breitbart News reported, in September he blamed coronavirus vaccine hesitancy on “mass-scale misinformation across news media and social media.”
Using an appearance at the the GQ Men of the Year Awards, Harry complained “Less than two per cent of people in the developing world have received a single dose” of coronavirus vaccine.
He then declared “At the same time, families around the world are being overwhelmed by mass-scale misinformation across news media and social media, where those who peddle in lies and fear are creating vaccine hesitancy, which in turn leads to divided communities and eroding trust.”
Harry has also claimed mental health and alleged manmade climate change are linked and both are the most important issues in the world.
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