In December, an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience went viral. Joe Rogan interviewed Dr Robert Malone, who made dubious claims about the ongoing vaccination drive in the US.
Malone coined the term "mass formation psychosis", which he used in correlation with the vaccine drive, saying that it tricked people into believing the vaccines worked and even accused US President Joe Biden of hiding data that supposedly showed ivermectin (anti-parasitic medicine) as a valid treatment.
After the episode went viral, YouTube stepped in and removed an older interview with Malone, and Twitter banned the doctor's account.
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Now a group of medical and scientific professionals have penned an open letter to Spotify, and urged them to create a strong misinformation policy.
Facebook and Twitter already have policies in place, for dealing with COVID-19 misinformation, and the group is urging Spotify to follow their lead.
"Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Joe Rogan has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine," reads the letter.
"He has discouraged vaccination in young people and children, incorrectly claimed that mRNA vaccines are “gene therapy,” promoted off-label use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 (contrary to FDA warnings), and spread a number of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories."
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The group says that allowing Coronavirus misinformation like this to spread unchecked, is a sociological issue, one that can lead to devastating consequences. They hold Spotify responsible, for allowing it on their platform and call on them to create a clear and public moderation policy for misinformation.
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