Spotify Plans To Add Content Warnings To Podcasts Covering Covid-19

A podcast in which the namesake presenter claims that healthy young people don’t need the vaccination – has sparked controversy (as covered by Media Matters). It’s worth noting that Spotify’s aforementioned standards neatly avoid this precise issue.

Due to the podcast, Neil Young, a singer-songwriter, has issued a challenge to Spotify, promising to withdraw his musical catalog from the site if no action is done against The Joe Rogan Experience. The musician subsequently carried out his threat, with other well-known artists such as Joni Mitchell following suit.

Spotify has responded to the growing uproar around Covid vaccination disinformation by announcing that any podcasts about the pandemic on the platform will now have content advisory warnings.

CEO Daniel Ek also stated that the company has released its ‘service standards,’ marking the first time it has publicly announced the content restrictions it enforces for its publishers – both exclusive Spotify partners and everyone else who distributes on the platform.

There is a clause in these recommendations that prohibits “Content that attracts hazardous misleading or dangerously misleading health information that may inflict internet harm or constitutes a clear public health hazard.”

Without a question, Spotify’s reluctance to act directly on Joe Rogan’s program stems from the exclusive arrangement the two struck, which is said to have worth over $1 million.

Spotify’s market value dropped by $2 billion as a result of the dispute as of this writing.

There’s no news on when the content warnings that Spotify plans to add to certain podcasts will go live, and only time will tell if they’ll be unable to quell the outrage.