Joe Rogan: White House praises Spotify’s new Covid disclaimers

The Biden administration believes that Spotify’s move to add advisory warnings to podcasts discussing Covid-19 is a “positive step”, according to press secretary Jen Psaki.

The move comes after several musicians asked to have their music pulled from the streaming service amid growing controversy over Joe Rogan’s show.

Ms Psaki said the White House hoped other platforms would follow suit.

Speaking to reporters during a briefing on Tuesday, Ms Psaki said the White House was encouraged by Spotify’s decision to add disclaimers, but that tech platforms and media outlets should collectively do more.

“Our hope is [that] all major tech platforms and all major news sources for that matter be responsible and be vigilant to ensure that the American people have access to accurate information on something as significant as Covid,” she said.

While the disclaimers were a “positive step”, the White House still wanted “every platform to continue doing more to call out misinformation”.

Musicians including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have been outspokenly critical of Mr Rogan and asked for their music to be removed from Spotify, which they accused of helping spread Covid misinformation.

The controversy was largely centred on two recent episodes of the Joe Rogan experience podcast featuring cardiologist Dr Peter McCullough and immunologist Dr Robert Malone. Both expressed views that are contrary to that of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Amid growing uproar on Sunday, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced that the new warnings would redirect users to a hub containing Covid-19 facts.

In a statement posted online, Mr Ek said it had “become clear to me that we have an obligation to do more to provide balance and access to widely-accepted information from the medical and scientific communities”.

He also said that Spotify had published platform rules meant to prevent contributors from sharing potentially harmful information.

Mr Rogan denied trying to spread disinformation, saying that he never attempted to do anything with the podcast “other than just talk to people”.

“My pledge to you is that I will do my best to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people’s perspectives, so we can maybe find a better point of view,” he said in an Instagram video posted on Monday. – bbc.com