The singer wants to encourage fans to boycott the Meta Group’s social media platforms.
Michael Stipe has encouraged social media users to log out of Facebook and Instagram in a concerted week of action between January 19th and 26th, as he says the platforms are helping to “fuel the far right in America.” The 65-year-old, singer and lyricist for REM from 1980 to 2011, has called for people to say goodbye to all social networks that are part of the Meta Group, which also includes Threads, Whatsapp, Messenger, Giphy, Metaquest and Rayban Meta belong.
Too addictive?
He let his fans know on Facebook: “I’m logging off for a week. Please consider doing the same so that companies like Meta can imagine that there could be consequences for supporting the far right in America and around the world. Or are we so addicted that we can’t even unsubscribe for a week?”
Stipe commented on his lines by saying that he finds meta “disgusting” and added: “I’m really happy to go away for a week as a kind of protest – after that I’ll come back and decide what I’m going to do from then on.”
Goodbye fact checking
The chairman and CEO of the meta company is Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. Earlier this year, he announced that Meta was eliminating the use of independent fact-checkers on its platforms, replacing them with X-style “community notes” that leave the accuracy of posts up to users.
Zuckerberg explained the controversial move with the blanket claim that fact-checkers were “too politically biased”; It is “time to return to our roots of free expression”. Critics fear that this will lead to the further spread of unfiltered, extremist content and that truths will be increasingly obscured.
Stipe = politically active
Stipe has been vocal about politics early in his career, recently appearing at several rallies for unsuccessful Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.