Neil Young Withdraws from Facebook

On August 15, 2025, Neil Young officially severed his official Facebook presence. The move was a direct response to revelations that Meta’s AI chatbots were permitted to engage in “romantic or sensual” conversations with minors.

Internal documents reportedly allowed chatbot language such as “Your youthful form is a work of art,” effectively sexualizing children, an “unconscionable” practice that Young refused to be associated.

A statement posted by his team affirmed: “At Neil Young’s request, we are no longer using Facebook for any Neil Young-related activities.” This act aligns with Young’s long-held pattern of withdrawing from platforms he deems ethically or politically compromised.

Neil Young has had a long history of protests.

In 2022, Young removed his entire catalog from Spotify. His objection centered on The Joe Rogan Experience, a Spotify-exclusive podcast controversially accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation. Young deemed Spotify complicit in misinformation, stating that he could not allow his music to remain on a platform facilitating harm.

Nearly two years later, Neil Young reversed course. As Joe Rogan’s show expanded its distribution to Apple Music and Amazon Music, the exclusivity on Spotify ended. Young explained that without Spotify, his music would be severely limited in reach, and he hoped Spotify would improve its audio quality and adopt high-resolution streaming. Reluctantly, he agreed to return.

Young has also taken steps beyond Spotify: he removed Facebook and Google login options from his Neil Young Archives site, citing their roles in spreading misinformation and meddling in elections. In 2023, he similarly quit X (formerly Twitter) when Elon Musk appeared to give credence to an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.

Neil Young’s early career is studded with powerful protest anthems—songs that captured and helped shape the social consciousness of their time. Here are some of his most iconic works from the late 1960s and 1970s, complete with release dates and context:

1. “Ohio” (June 1970)
• Performed by: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
• Written in response to: The Kent State shootings (May 4, 1970), when National Guardsmen killed four students.
• Released: June 1970 as a single (B-side: “Find the Cost of Freedom”).
• Impact/Description: A raw, galvanizing anthem—“Tin soldiers and Nixon coming, four dead in Ohio”—spoke directly to the outrage over state violence. Rolling Stone ranked it #9 among “The 100 Best Protest Songs of All Time” in 2025.

2. “Southern Man” (September 1970)
• Album: After the Gold Rush (1970)
• Released: September 19, 1970.
• Description: A scathing critique of racism in the American South, spotlighting slavery’s legacy and moral hypocrisy: “Southern Man, when will you pay them back?”

The song even prompted Lynyrd Skynyrd’s retort “Sweet Home Alabama.” On tour, Young once canceled a show when a fan was assaulted during a performance of the song.

3. “Alabama” (1972)
• Album: Harvest (1972)
• Description: A haunting, acoustic reflection on racism and Southern identity. Its eerie imagery—banjos through broken windows, Klan robes—made it both evocative and disturbing.

4. “War Song” (June 24, 1972) (Rarity)
• Artist: Neil Young & Graham Nash
• Released: June 24, 1972 (B-side: “The Needle and the Damage Done”).
• Purpose: A campaign song supporting anti-war presidential candidate George McGovern. Though not a major chart hit, it reaffirmed Young’s protest credentials.

5. “Powderfinger” (1979)
• Album: Rust Never Sleeps (1979)
• Description: A narrative-style protest against gun violence and war. It tells the story of a young man fatally outnumbered and unprepared—an allegory for the futility and tragedy of conflict.

These songs sit among at least 20 socially conscious tunes in Young’s catalog, including “After The Gold Rush” (environmental lament, 1970), “Vampire Blues” (oil-industry critique, 1974), and many later entries such as “Restless Consumer” (2006), which critiques capitalism and war.

Neil Young’s decisions to withdraw from platforms like Spotify and Facebook are consistent with a lifelong ethos: ethics over convenience, activism through art. His 2025 Facebook exit, sparked by the disturbing revelations of AI chatbots interacting sexually with minors, is merely the latest chapter in a long history of principled stands.

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Tagged as: 70s, Canada, Facebook, Neil Young, rock, Spotify, USA