Spotify pursues worthless policy with controversy Joe Rogan

The controversy surrounding the Joe Rogan podcast is already absurd, but the measures Spotify is taking now transcend that.

Joe Rogan has been discredited in recent weeks because of ‘disputed’ guests he is said to have interviewed about COVID-19. The topic is definitely controversial, but Spotify chooses to “fix” the whole thing in the most worthless way. And that’s not a hot take or spicy point of view; both supporters and opponents of the uprising against the Joe Rogan Experience really don’t benefit from Spotify’s measures at all.

Joe Rogan gets left hook from Spotify

Joe Rogan’s podcast, by far the largest in the world, has been available exclusively on Spotify for roughly two years now. The comedian talks about the most diverse topics, makes risky jokes, gives controversial opinions and thus influences people’s opinions. That is not illegal, not unethical and not strange.

Still, countless people stumble over the fact that he invites possible wappies to his podcast. The dissenting voice they give about corona hit many people the wrong way. Artists like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell are now demanding that their music be taken off Spotify because of Joe Rogan’s podcast.

Measures

Due to all the controversy, Spotify eventually decides to respond, Kotaku details. The standout decision is simple: the streaming service removes more than 100 episodes from the platform.

The crazy thing? Not a single podcast that has been removed (check the list here) has anything to do with corona or the controversy. Only one episode has been removed (#1458) that was shot during the pandemic. In this way, Spotify censors old products from Joe Rogan, while all the fuss about corona remains unaffected. In short, the measures are of no use to anyone, there are only losers.

Especially given that the criticism of the podcast is completely inappropriate. As a podcaster, Joe Rogan has no responsibility to be visitors to speak the truth. He merely offers a stage for differing opinions. Whether those opinions are correct is then up to journalists and, of course, the listener. And certainly in an area like the virus that literally no one really knows everything about, different voices are important.