Spotify unveils plans to fight COVID misinformation as Joe Rogan vows to ‘balance’ show
As multiple Grammy Award-winning musicians have dropped themselves from the streaming giant Spotify, the CEO of the company and the podcaster at the center of the controversy have responded.
Statements on Sunday, Jan. 30, from Joe Rogan and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek come as many people have said they are going to boycott Spotify in protest over misinformation shared in podcasts. Musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell led the charge as they removed their catalogs of music from the service.
Young gave Spotify an ultimatum, saying it needed to choose between him and Rogan because Spotify was enabling Rogan to spread “fake information about vaccines.” Young’s music disappeared from Spotify last week, and Mitchell soon joined him.
Rogan said in an Instagram video Sunday, Jan. 30, he has “no hard feelings” towards Young and Mitchell and is “very sorry that they feel that way.”
Much of the controversy followed a signed letter by hundreds of medical experts, who said that a guest on Rogan’s show used the episode to “further promote numerous baseless claims” about the coronavirus and COVID-19 vaccines, McClatchy News reported.
The letter said the views shared by Dr. Robert Malone in the episode were “not only objectionable and offensive, but also medically and culturally dangerous.”
An additional interview with Dr. Peter McCullough also contained false claims about the pandemic and vaccines, according to health experts.
Rogan said he wanted to hear the opinions of these doctors but has vowed to “try harder” in having multiple viewpoints on topics for his popular podcast.
“I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people’s perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view,” Rogan said.
Rogan reportedly signed a $100 million exclusive contract with Spotify in 2020. He has been involved in several controversies since then, including in April when he encouraged healthy young people to not get vaccinated against COVID-19, McClatchy News reported.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, debunked his claims, saying young, healthy people should “absolutely” get vaccinated.
In a letter on Spotify’s website Jan. 30, Ek did not name Rogan, but he said there are individuals on the service with whom he disagrees with “strongly.” He laid out multiple ways in which Spotify can combat misinformation relating to the pandemic.
“It’s become clear to me that we have an obligation to do more to provide balance and access to widely-accepted information from the medical and scientific communities guiding us through this unprecedented time,” Ek said.
Spotify will add content advisories to any podcast episode about COVID-19, which will direct listeners to a COVID-19 hub that will provide fact-driven information about the virus. This hub will offer information “shared by scientists, physicians, academics and public health authorities around the world” and will be the first for a major podcast platform, Spotify said.
Ek said it is important the service does not censor its creators. Spotify also plans to test ways to highlight its rules so its creators are aware of what is acceptable. The platform’s rules have since been made public.
“We take this seriously and will continue to partner with experts and invest heavily in our platform functionality and product capabilities for the benefit of creators and listeners alike,” Ek said. “That doesn’t mean that we always get it right, but we are committed to learning, growing and evolving.”
This story was originally published January 31, 2022 at 8:24 AM with the headline "Spotify unveils plans to fight COVID misinformation as Joe Rogan vows to ‘balance’ show."