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Spotify is finally responding to criticism of how it handles the controversial COVID-19 content in the Joe Rogan Experience. The company said it would add COVID-19 content advisories to podcasts, and that advisory will lead to Spotify's COVID-19 hub, hosting credible and up-to-date information about the pandemic.
Spotify has also made public its COVID-19 content policy to improve transparency around the issue's treatment. The Verge got a copy of the policy ahead of the platform's release and wrote about how an internal memo showed that Joe Rogan's podcast didn't "meet the threshold for removal."
Violators of the rules may have their content in question removed, and repeat offenders will potentially have their accounts suspended or banned.
According to Spotify's policy, it prohibits content that asserts "AIDS, COVID-19, cancer or other serious life threatening diseases are a hoax or not real." It also bans content that encourages people "to purposely get infected with COVID-19 in order to build immunity." And it doesn't allow content suggesting vaccines "are designed to cause death." What's missing from the internal document is the specific callout "Suggesting that wearing a mask will cause the wearer imminent, life-threatening physical harm."
Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Nils Lofgren have all asked to get their music removed from the platform in protest of Rogan's podcast.