Prince Harry is taking a stab at the evils of social media once again as the British royal speaks out against the misinformation that is fueling the fire.
Harry spoke out during an interview with Fast Company, stating that the digital world need “remodeling: for the survival of humanity.
“We have seen time and again what happens when the real-world cost of misinformation is disregarded. There is no way to downplay this,” he said, adding that the riot at the US Capitol earlier this month was largely organised online.
“There was a literal attack on democracy in the United States, organised on social media, which is an issue of violent extremism,” Harry said, going on to cite more such examples including the genocide in Myanmar and destruction in the Amazon.
Amazon suspended the pro-Trump social network Parler from its web-hosting service this month, days afterApple and Google removed the app from their stores for smartphone downloads, citing concerns that posts on Parler could contribute to violence.
“I’m not saying we should abandon technology in favour of Speakers’ Corner,” he said in the same interview. “Rather, it’s that we should avoid buying into the idea that social media is the ultimate modern-day public square and that any attempt to ask platforms to be accountable to the landscape they’ve created is an attack or restriction of speech.”
“I think it’s a false choice to say you have to pick between free speech or a more compassionate and trustworthy digital world,” he continued. “They are not mutually exclusive.”
