The chief executive of Spotify responded on Sunday to growing complaints from musicians and listeners over the role of Joe Rogan, the streaming service’s star podcaster, in spreading what has been widely criticized as misinformation about the coronavirus. Last week, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell — two musical icons whose cultural influence is far greater than their streaming numbers — removed their music from Spotify to protest the platform’s support of Rogan.
“We know we have a critical role to play in supporting creator expression while balancing it with the safety of our users,” the C.E.O., Daniel Ek, who is also one of Spotify’s founders, wrote in a public letter. “In that role, it is important to me that we don’t take on the position of being content censor while also making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who violate them.”
Ek made no specific mention of Rogan, who has drawn complaints for his interviews with vaccine skeptics. This month, a group of more than 200 professors and public health officials called on Spotify to crack down on Covid-19 misinformation on its platform, and pointed to a recent episode of Rogan’s podcast featuring Dr. Robert Malone, an infectious-disease expert, that included “several falsehoods about Covid-19 vaccines,” according to the experts’ letter.
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Source: Spotify and Joe Rogan Respond to Complaints About Covid Misinformation | The New York Times