Daniel Ek, executive director of the platform, assures that the change is the product of “comments in recent weeks”, apparently referring to criticism of presenter Joe Rogan, accused of spreading misinformation about covid-19.
Amid criticism for the alleged misinformation it is spreading regarding the coronavirus, Spotify announced this Sunday a change in its policies and a new approach in this regard.
Daniel Ek, executive director of the platform, assured in a statement that a “content notice” will be added to any podcast episode that includes discussions on covid-19, which will direct listeners to a resource with “reliable sources”. about the pandemic. In doing so, the company promised to provide “easy access to data-driven facts, up-to-date information shared by scientists, clinicians, academics, and public health authorities around the world.”
Ek stressed that Spotify has published its regulations today, within which any “false or misleading medical information” that can cause harm or represents “a direct threat to public health” has been described as dangerous content .
In this context, Spotify has described as dangerous content that claims the coronavirus is a “hoax” or “not real” and content that promotes or suggests that vaccines “are designed to cause death.” Encouraging people to “deliberately become infected with covid-19 in order to build immunity” also falls into that category.
On the other hand, the music service will make sure to raise awareness among its content creators so that they can “understand their responsibility” if they post content that is deemed to violate the platform’s rules.
Daniel Ek explained that the introduction of these changes is the product of “comments in recent weeks” , apparently referring to public criticism of the successful presenter Joe Rogan , accused of spreading misinformation about covid-19 through his podcast program. on Spotify.
Due to Rogan’s stance on the pandemic and anticovid vaccines, musicians such as Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren have decided to withdraw their music from the streaming service, arguing that the platform allows false information to spread. Since Young removed his works from Spotify, the company has lost more than $2 billion and its stock has plunged more than 12%.