Jing Wen (10) | STAFF REPORTER
Throughout the pandemic, there have been multiple speculations on the reliability of the COVID-19 vaccines. On December 31st, Joe Rogan released an episode on his podcast with virologist Dr.Robert Malone who made false accusations against the efficacy of vaccines because of mass formation psychosis. Malone was banned on Twitter for the misinformation and more than 270 doctors sent letters to Spotify, referring to Rogan’s episode as a menace to public health.
Many of Rogan’s episodes have misleading information and potentially offensive content according to his current allegations of racism. Due to the extent of damage that Rogan’s podcast has brought, a few singers such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell threatened to remove their music from Spotify if Rogan’s podcast the Joe Rogan Experience was not removed. Nils Lofgren is the most recent musician who joined the protest by Young and has urged more artists to do the same. However, Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek has stressed that this situation does not represent the values of the company.
Subsequently, Joe Rogan uploaded an apology video about the racial slurs he used in his podcast and as of right now, 113 episodes of his podcast have been taken down. Ek has also issued an apology regarding the controversy. It has also been clarified that Rogan will not be removed from the platform but there will be clear lines made in regards to future content.
This is the action that has been taken against this situation, but whether or not more episodes will be taken down or if any content changes will be made, only time will tell.
