NEW YORK – After Neil Young protested Spotify over Neil Young’s spread of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, the music streaming service said it would add content advice before podcasts discuss it. discussion of viruses.
In a post Sunday, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek made the platform rules more transparent in the face of backlash from Young, who on Wednesday removed his music from Spotify after he The tech giant refused to remove episodes of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” which has been criticized for spreading misinformation about the virus.
“Personally, there are many individuals and views on Spotify with which I strongly disagree,” Ek wrote. “It’s important to me that we don’t take the position of moderating content while at the same time making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who break them.”
Ek said that advisors will link up with Spotify’s fact-based COVID-19 hub in what he describes as a “new effort to combat misinformation.” It will launch in the coming days, Ek said. He didn’t specifically mention Rogan or Young.
Rogan responded to the incident on Sunday, saying in an Instagram video that he was only looking to chat on his podcast with people with “different perspectives”.
“I’m not trying to promote misinformation, I’m not trying to cause controversy,” Rogan said. “I’ve never tried to do anything with this podcast other than just talk to people.”
He also said that he schedules guest appearances on his podcast himself and will try to schedule doctors with different opinions as soon as he talks to “controversial people.” Rogan noted that he previously sat down on the show with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Michael Osterholm, a member of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board, and Dr. Peter. Hotez from Baylor University. of Medicine.
Rogan also welcomes the idea of adding advisors ahead of COVID-19 related podcasts.
“Sure, there’s that there. I’m very happy with that,” he said.
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, who have signed a multi-year deal to produce and host podcasts for Spotify under their production company Archewell Audio, on Sunday called on Spotify to… recover false information about the virus.
“Last April, our co-founders began voicing concerns to our partners at Spotify about all of the all-too-real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on the platform. of it,” an Archewell spokesperson said in a statement. “We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis. We look forward to Spotify’s response. respond to this moment and are committed to continuing our work as it is.”
The previous Sunday, Nils Lofgren, Bruce Springsteen guitarist and member of Crazy Horse, a frequent collaborator with Young, said he was joining Young’s Spotify uprising. Lofgren said he has deleted music from the past 27 years and asked his previous music production labels to do the same.
“We encourage all musicians, artists and music lovers everywhere to stand with us and sever ties with Spotify,” Lofgren wrote in a statement.
On Friday, Joni Mitchell said she is looking to remove all her music from Spotify in solidarity with Young. Earlier, hundreds of scientists, professors and public health experts asked Spotify to remove a December 31 episode from “The Joe Rogan Experience,” in which he featured Dr. about infectious disease, who was banned on Twitter for spreading COVID -19 misinformation.
