COVID-19 Misinformation, Spotify, and Joe Rogan: Here’s What You Need to Know

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, who have a multi-year deal content deal with Spotify, added their voices to those calling for Spotify to address the issue in a statement released via their Archewell foundation. “Since the inception of Archewell, we have worked to address the real-time global misinformation crisis. Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the serious harms of rampant mis- and disinformation every day,” the statement read, according to People. “Last April, our co-founders began expressing concerns to our partners at Spotify about the all too real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform. We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis.”

So what does Spotify say about all this? On Sunday, the company finally responded. “You’ve had a lot of questions over the last few days about our platform policies and the lines we have drawn between what is acceptable and what is not. We have had rules in place for many years but admittedly, we haven’t been transparent around the policies that guide our content more broadly,” CEO Daniel Ek wrote in a public letter posted to the company’s website. “Based on the feedback over the last several weeks, 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. These issues are incredibly complex. We’ve heard you—especially those from the medical and scientific communities.” 

Moving forward, Spotify will be adding a content advisory to any podcast on the platform discussing COVID-19, which will link to a hub aiming to provide “easy access to data-driven facts, up-to-date information as shared by scientists, physicians, academics and public health authorities around the world, as well as links to trusted sources,” the letter reads. “We will also begin testing ways to highlight our Platform Rules in our creator and publisher tools to raise awareness around what’s acceptable and help creators understand their accountability for the content they post on our platform.” 

Many say that’s not enough. “This is mere cosmetic dusting,” tweeted Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist, health economist, and senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists.

Rogan issued his own response on Sunday via Instagram, promising to “balance things out” by featuring “more experts with differing opinions right after I have the controversial ones,” he said per the Times. 

As of Monday, JRE episode 1,757 was still available on Spotify. 

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Source: SELF