Spotify to label podcasts discussing COVID-19

Photo by Brandon ong on Unsplash

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."

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'Death Stranding Director's Cut' to come to PC on Mar. 30

Source: Kojima Studios

If you've wanted more Death Stranding, we're happy to report the genre-bending action adventure's definite version is coming out soon. The title from acclaimed director Hideo Kojima will be landing on PCs via Steam on March 30, 2022. Death Stranding Director's Cut was expected to come out sometime this spring. But now, you have a date to mark on your calendars.

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You can now just tell Google Assistant to 'stop' without saying 'Hey Google'

Photo by Moritz Kindler on Unsplash

If you missed that update, you no longer need to say "Hey Google" before telling your Google Assistant-powered smart home speaker or display to stop speaking. Now, you can just say "stop" for it to work. This feature comes in handy when the device is reading out your schedule or news and you've reached a point where you got the information you needed. It's a minor update, but it does make the interaction more natural.

As The Verge pointed out, this isn't a universal "stop making sounds" feature. And Google didn't say it was one anyway. Of course, when you're listening to a song, you still have to say the magic words, a.k.a. "Hey Google."

Canadian Reviewer Weekly Roundup – 1/23 – 1/29

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Joni Mitchell wants her song Spotify over COVID-19 misinformation concerns