Prince Harry issues action against fake news on social media

Prince Harry has helped a US thinktank to compile a report calling for the media industry to adopt guidelines against fake news.

The Duke of Sussex contributed to the report, titled “The Aspen Commission on Information Disorder,” with the Aspen Institute.

Aimed at tackling “the growing mis- and disinformation problem in technology, media and social media,” the report was researched and written by 15 commissioners and three co-chairmen, including policy experts, researchers, former public officials, and representatives from the media and tech industries.

The recommendations, which focused mainly on the US, include requiring social media platforms to disclose information about content moderation practices and advertising, as well as disclosing certain types of data to qualified researchers who are conducting research in the public interest.

The commission also called for “substantial” investment in local journalism, more diverse workforces at social media companies, holding misinformation super-spreaders to account, and creating a US government “national response strategy” for tackling misinformation.

Alongside Prince Harry, other notable names appeared to have participated in the research, including famed US TV journalist Katie Couric and Kathryn Murdoch, who co-founded the Quadrivium Foundation with her husband James Murdoch.

Last week, Prince Harry said he had warned the chief executive of Twitter ahead of the Jan. 6 US Capitol riots that the social media site was being used to stage political unrest in Washington, D.C.

The prince described online misinformation as a “global humanitarian issue.”

Prince Harry also accused other social media sites such as Facebook of misleading “billions of people” with COVID-19 and climate change misinformation.