
Spotify has determined that its newly published platform rules, which it says have been internally in place “for years,” do not prohibit numerous dangerous and unfounded claims spread on The Joe Rogan Experience. Spotify publicly disclosed these rules on January 30 following widespread backlash at the platform for profiting off of Joe Rogan’s misinformation about the pandemic.
Over the weekend, Rogan issued an apology in response to widely circulated videos in which he made racist comments and repeatedly used a racial slur during his podcast. Rogan also instructed Spotify to take down over 100 of his past podcast episodes from Spotify.
Rogan’s Spotify podcast is rife with COVID-19 misinformation, hateful smears against trans people, and dangerous conspiracy theories. Yet the platform has fallen woefully short in its efforts to moderate Rogan’s harmful rhetoric.