Neil Young has givenSpotifyan ultimatum: remove the Joe Rogan Experience podcast or Neil Young walks.
They can have Rogan or Young.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
In 2020 the podcast became a Spotify exclusive through a dealestimated at $100m.
Two days later,Spotify has reportedly removed Youngs music from its platform.
Joe Rogan on his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience.
Self-regulation
Spotify has taken action to regulate harmful content on its service in the past.
In 2017, Spotifyannounced it would remove contentfrom bands connected to white supremacist and neo-Nazi movements.
Spotify developed the policy in partnership with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League.
Critics viewed Spotifys use of the policy an attempt to censor music.
The move prompted other prominent artists, most notably Kendrick Lamar, to threatenwithdrawing their music from Spotifyentirely.
Shortly afterwards, Spotify rolled back the policy.
We dont aim to play judge and jury.
Digital platforms have taken steps to moderate misinformation.
Later that year, Facebooks Oversight Boardbegan hearing casesto oversee key decisions related to content moderation.
Policing platforms
Reliance on platforms to moderate podcast content is a tenuous proposition.
Still, users and advocates should not hold their breath waiting for platforms to do the right thing.
Failures to moderate harmful content are harder to ignore when they involve bigger name artists.
Neil Young has never shied away from political action in a musical career spanning nearly six decades.
Bondy Valdovinos Kaye, Lecturer,Queensland University of Technology, is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license.
