Spotify continues to deal with the fallout from its decision to keep on its roster Joe Rogan, a massively popular podcaster widely criticized for spreading Covid-19 misinformation. And though it may be trying to paper over it, there are no signs this relationship is headed in the right direction.
Earlier this month, hundreds of health experts co-signed an open letter to Spotify warning that Rogan, the site’s most popular podcast host, is provoking a dangerous “distrust in science and medicine” in his millions of listeners.
“This is not only a scientific or medical concern; it is a sociological issue of devastating proportions and Spotify is responsible for allowing this activity to thrive on its platform,” the letter stated.
Music icons Neil Young and Joni Mitchell both moved quickly last week to remove their music from Spotify in protest of Rogan. And now, the streaming platform — and Rogan himself — are doing some damage control.
“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,” Spotify CEO Daniel Ek wrote in a post published to Spotify’s website on Sunday.
In the post, Ek announced a couple of changes. For one, the platform will start adding a content advisory on all podcasts discussing Covid-19, which will link listeners to reputable information. And sure, that sounds like progress — however, I’m justifiably skeptical that most followers of “The Joe Rogan Experience” are effective or interested seekers of accurate information.
Ek also said Spotify has begun publicly sharing its rules for podcasters on the platform. According to the rules, podcasters are banned from “suggesting that vaccines approved by local health authorities are designed to cause death,” and they’re also banned from “encouraging people to purposely get infected with COVID-19 in order to build immunity to it (e.g. promoting or hosting ‘coronavirus parties’).”
So, in short: no clear repercussions for Joe Rogan’s prior behavior — just a promise to do better. And because of the way they’re written, there may even be some wiggle room in the rules that will allow Rogan to continue spreading dubious Covid claims. Rogan, for example, often interviews guests rather than maki ng questionable health claims on his own. It’s unclear whether or how that could influence any potential punishment for sharing misinformation.
On Sunday, Rogan issued his own halfhearted apology through Instagram. In a 10-minute video, he said his guests who have been accused of spreading Covid misinformation are “highly credentialed, very intelligent, very accomplished people” who simply “have an opinion that’s different from the mainstream narrative.”
But Rogan said he’s ill-equipped to separate truth from dangerous fiction.
“I do not know if they’re right,” Rogan said of his guests who spread falsehoods about the virus. “I don’t know, because I’m not a doctor and I’m not a scientist. I’m just a person who sits down and talks to people and has conversations with them.”
The claim to ignorance may satisfy some critics in the short term, but nothing Rogan said in his apology gives the impression he’s going to curb his behavior. And we can return to this post on the inevitable day — in the near future, I suspect — that he and Spotify announce they’ve parted ways.
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Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.