In an open letter signed by 270 doctors and medical experts, Spotify is urged to moderate misinformation on its platform, especially regarding its largest podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience.
The show’s exclusive rights were handed over to the platform by Joe Rogan in the 2020 deal. He’s used the podcast repeatedly since then to spread misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic – which is the last thing we need as our battle with the latest coronavirus variant rages on.
There are even some of Rogan’s most ardent supporters who mock him for making dubious and unsubstantiated claims.
According to the letter, things reached a head when Rogan invited “highly controversial” guest Robert Malone. According to the experts, the December 31 episode was criticized for promoting baseless conspiracy theories, and the [Joe Rogan Experience] has a history of broadcasting misinformation, particularly concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the episode, Malone claimed the Biden administration was trying to minimize the effectiveness of ivermectin, a deworming agent often used in horses, as a COVID treatment. In fact, he stated that politicians used hypnosis to deceive the public.
Rogan has used his platform to spread misinformation in the past, and the interview with Malone was the latest example.
“He has discouraged vaccination in young people and children, incorrectly claimed that mRNA vaccines are ‘gene therapy,’ promoted off-label use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 (contrary to FDA warnings), and spread a number of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories,” the letter states.
His widespread dissemination of preposterous misinformation could cause active harm as well as foster mistrust in science and research.
“As physicians, we bear the arduous weight of a pandemic that has stretched our medical systems to their limits and only stands to be exacerbated by the anti-vaccination sentiment woven into this and other episodes of Rogan’s podcast,” they wrote.
This group is asking Spotify to start moderating misinformation on its platform to “mitigate the damage it is causing”, a ringing condemnation of the company turning a blind eye, but it remains to be seen if action will be taken.
