Spotify CEO, Daniel Ek, has announced a plan to add content advisory for podcast episodes that discuss Covid-19, but Joe Rogan isn’t going anywhere.
Joe Rogan has drawn extreme vitriol because of his podcast airing COVID misinformation.
As reported by B&T, the backlash against him has been so extreme that even music icons Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have exited the platform.
Nonetheless, Rogan has defended his decision to book controversial guests but did apologise to Spotify for the fallout.
Rogan said, “These podcasts are very strange because they’re just conversations.”
“Oftentimes I have no idea what I’m going to talk about until I sit down and talk to people.”
“That’s why some of my ideas are not that prepared or fleshed out because I’m literally having them in real-time, but I do my best.”
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Ek said in a press release, “Pick almost any issue and you will find people and opinions on either side of it.”
But, Ek did affirm that “Personally, there are plenty of individuals and views on Spotify that I disagree with strongly.”
Nonetheless, the company has deviated away from the routes many of its big-tech peers have ventured down.
Spotify will not take the position of being a content censor.
Despite this, Ek conceded that Spotify’s platform policies weren’t transparent enough but now the company will do more to provide balance and access to widely accepted information.
It should also be noted that Spotify has described itself as, “biased toward action.”
The company has launched a variety of health campaigns to raise awareness and promoted a global Covid Information Hub.
Almost identically echoing Rogan’s earlier mentioned statement, Ek said that despite his trust in guiding policies and research, “That doesn’t mean that we always get it right.”
