Spotify Announces Content Warnings for Podcast Episodes About COVID-19 amid Misinformation Boycott
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After multiple public figures and artists announced they would be pulling their content from Spotify over COVID-19 misinformation, the streaming platform addressed the controversy on Sunday.
To combat inaccurate information regarding the coronavirus and vaccines, Spotify announced plans to add a content advisory to any podcast episode that includes discussion about COVID-19.
"This advisory will direct listeners to our dedicated COVID-19 Hub, a resource that provides 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," Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said in a news release.
The audio streaming giant will also publish its "long-standing" platform rules — which Ek, 38, said were developed by an internal team and outside experts — as a guide for creators.
RELATED: Nils Lofgren Pulls '27 Years of My Music' from Spotify amid COVID-19 Misinformation Boycott
In regard to COVID-19 misinformation, Spotify's rules tell creators to avoid "content that promotes dangerous false or dangerous deceptive medical information that may cause offline harm or poses a direct threat to public health."
That includes asserting that AIDS, COVID-19, cancer or other serious life threatening diseases are a hoax or not real; promoting or suggesting that vaccines approved by local health authorities are designed to cause death; encouraging people to purposely get infected with COVID-19 in order to build immunity; or encouraging the consumption of bleach products to cure various illnesses and diseases.
Content in violation of those rules may be removed from the platform, though Spotify states that they "keep context in mind" when making decisions.
While Ek didn't mention host Joe Rogan by name, he said that the changes were in response to 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."
Sunday's announcement comes days after Neil Young demanded Spotify remove his music from the platform after he claimed that Rogan, 54, was spreading misinformation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast. The open letter Young, 76, shared to his website on Monday appears to have since been deleted.
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"I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them," he wrote, according to Rolling Stone and Variety. "Please act on this immediately today and keep me informed of the time schedule."
"I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform. They can have [Joe] Rogan or Young. Not both," Young added, according to the outlets.
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Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren have since joined Young in having their music pulled from the streaming service.
Lofgren, 70, announced that he's had "the last 27 years of my music" removed in an effort to boycott the spread of COVID-19 misinformation, in part through the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
"A few days ago, my wife Amy and I became aware of Neil and [wife Daryl Hannah] standing with hundreds of health care professionals, scientists, doctors and nurses in calling out Spotify for promoting lies and misinformation that are hurting and killing people," Lofgren began a statement from himself and wife Amy Lofgren on Young's website.
"When these heroic women and men, who've spent their lives healing and saving ours, cry out for help you don't turn your back on them for money and power," he continued. "You listen and stand with them."
RELATED: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Address 'Serious Harms' of COVID-19 Misinformation on Spotify
Lofgren noted that while he's had a majority of his own music taken down already, he's also reaching out to the labels who own his earlier work to have that removed as well. "We sincerely hope they honor our wishes, as Neil's labels have done, his. We will do everything possible towards that end and will keep you posted," he wrote.
"Neil and I go back 53 years. Amy and I are honored and blessed to call Neil and Daryl friends, and knew standing with them was the right choice. We encourage all musicians, artists and music lovers everywhere, to stand with us all, and cut ties with Spotify," Lofgren added.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have also called on the streaming service to address the "serious harms" caused by COVID misinformation after signing an exclusive multi-year podcast deal with the company in 2020.
"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," the Duke and Duchess of Sussex 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 to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does," the couple added.
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The controversy comes after a group of 270 scientists, professors and medical professionals previously shared an open letter to Spotify on New Year's Eve, requesting the audio giant implement a misinformation policy.
"By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions, Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals," they wrote.
The letter made note of Rogan discouraging vaccinations in young people and children, falsely claiming that mRNA vaccines are "gene therapy" and promoting off-label use of ivermectin to treat COVID, which the FDA has previously warned against.
"With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE is the world's largest podcast and has tremendous influence," the letter stated. "Though Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, the company presently has no misinformation policy."
"Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe Rogan has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine," they added.
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