NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Spotify is as part of a damage-control campaign , who called out the streaming service鈥檚 top podcaster for amplifying vaccine skepticism.
Spotify said Sunday it will soon add a warning before all podcasts that discuss COVID-19, directing listeners to factual, up-to-date information from scientists and public health experts. The company also sought to increase transparency about its publishing decisions by laying out the rules it uses to protect users' safety.
Young had his music removed from Spotify last week after the company declined to get rid of episodes of 鈥淭he Joe Rogan Experience,鈥� which he criticized for spreading virus misinformation.
Rogan last month interviewed Dr. Robert Malone, an infectious disease specialist who has become a hero in the anti-vaccine community. Malone has been banned from Twitter for spreading COVID misinformation and has falsely suggested that millions of people have been hypnotized into believing that the vaccines work to prevent serious disease.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said there are "plenty of individuals and views on Spotify that I disagree with strongly.鈥� He added: 鈥淚t is important to me that we don鈥檛 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.鈥�
Rogan responded to the fallout on Sunday, saying in a video on Instagram that he was only seeking to have conversations on his podcast with people who have 鈥渄iffering opinions.鈥�
鈥淚'm not trying to promote misinformation, I'm not trying to be controversial,鈥� Rogan said. 鈥淚've never tried to do anything with this podcast other than to just talk to people.鈥�
He also said that he schedules the guests on his podcast himself, and that he would try to book doctors with different opinions right after he talks to 鈥渢he controversial ones.鈥� Rogan said he earlier sat down on the show with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the chief medical correspondent for CNN, Dr. Michael Osterholm, who is a member of President Joe Biden's COVID-19 advisory board, and Dr. Peter Hotez from Baylor College of Medicine.
Rogan welcomed the idea of adding advisories before podcasts related to COVID-19.
鈥淪ure, have that on there. I'm very happy with that,鈥� he said.
Britain鈥檚 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 urged Spotify to tame virus misinformation.
鈥淟ast 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,鈥� an Archewell spokesperson said in a statement. 鈥淲e 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 to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does.鈥�
Earlier Sunday, Nils Lofgren, the Bruce Springsteen guitarist and a member of Crazy Horse, a frequent collaborator with Young, said he was joining Young's Spotify revolt. Lofgren said he had already had the last 27 years of his music removed and requested labels with his earlier music to do likewise.
鈥淲e encourage all musicians, artists and music lovers everywhere to stand with us and cut ties with Spotify,鈥� wrote Lofgren in a statement.
On Friday, in solidarity with Young. Earlier, hundreds of scientists, professors and public health experts called on Spotify Their criticism focused on a Dec. 31 episode from 鈥淭he Joe Rogan Experience鈥� in which Rogan featured Dr. Robert Malone, an infectious-disease specialist who has been banned from Twitter for spreading COVID-19.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
