Zürcher Nachrichten - Neil Young-Spotify row underscores podcast disinformation issues

EUR -
AED 3.998865
AFN 74.032435
ALL 98.364846
AMD 421.540987
ANG 1.962391
AOA 989.691219
ARS 1066.394554
AUD 1.624938
AWG 1.961852
AZN 1.840344
BAM 1.953464
BBD 2.198589
BDT 130.126027
BGN 1.955445
BHD 0.410359
BIF 3150.721272
BMD 1.088708
BND 1.425395
BOB 7.551969
BRL 6.157622
BSD 1.088908
BTN 91.512069
BWP 14.529625
BYN 3.563444
BYR 21338.678964
BZD 2.195075
CAD 1.502809
CDF 3091.930674
CHF 0.93954
CLF 0.037096
CLP 1023.58196
CNY 7.751165
CNH 7.769456
COP 4620.62964
CRC 560.183817
CUC 1.088708
CUP 28.850765
CVE 110.585488
CZK 25.228603
DJF 193.48502
DKK 7.461566
DOP 65.646121
DZD 145.035572
EGP 52.854711
ERN 16.330622
ETB 132.161271
FJD 2.428118
FKP 0.833046
GBP 0.833378
GEL 2.955848
GGP 0.833046
GHS 17.430189
GIP 0.833046
GMD 74.580795
GNF 9400.994618
GTQ 8.420235
GYD 227.827561
HKD 8.45705
HNL 27.271866
HRK 7.500143
HTG 143.496543
HUF 400.15903
IDR 16934.310303
ILS 4.088807
IMP 0.833046
INR 91.515334
IQD 1425.663271
IRR 45823.724021
ISK 149.316268
JEP 0.833046
JMD 172.613587
JOD 0.771789
JPY 162.654626
KES 140.443156
KGS 93.089384
KHR 4426.687444
KMF 492.149991
KPW 979.837054
KRW 1486.93611
KWD 0.333874
KYD 0.907515
KZT 531.200871
LAK 23859.038158
LBP 97493.811387
LKR 319.277676
LRD 209.464234
LSL 19.226065
LTL 3.214672
LVL 0.658549
LYD 5.236531
MAD 10.704719
MDL 19.236996
MGA 4991.726573
MKD 61.538459
MMK 3536.081475
MNT 3699.430189
MOP 8.712581
MRU 43.292482
MUR 50.429003
MVR 16.722465
MWK 1888.908821
MXN 21.447496
MYR 4.691789
MZN 69.558136
NAD 18.932226
NGN 1780.037868
NIO 40.06178
NOK 11.795624
NPR 146.406822
NZD 1.79164
OMR 0.419113
PAB 1.088998
PEN 4.095283
PGK 4.281073
PHP 62.935497
PKR 302.388889
PLN 4.294148
PYG 8529.799968
QAR 3.964093
RON 4.976816
RSD 117.049145
RUB 105.598416
RWF 1475.19949
SAR 4.086967
SBD 9.035544
SCR 16.486483
SDG 654.867627
SEK 11.340767
SGD 1.426458
SHP 0.833046
SLE 24.523183
SLL 22829.661239
SOS 621.652549
SRD 35.217566
STD 22534.059793
SVC 9.527994
SYP 2735.412081
SZL 18.954447
THB 36.232618
TJS 11.575758
TMT 3.821365
TND 3.341203
TOP 2.549862
TRY 37.26785
TTD 7.392549
TWD 35.086852
TZS 2967.091061
UAH 44.86495
UGX 3996.221273
USD 1.088708
UYU 45.255882
UZS 13935.464084
VEF 3943902.324635
VES 42.290119
VND 27152.380274
VUV 129.253647
WST 3.049672
XAF 655.173536
XAG 0.034527
XAU 0.000409
XCD 2.942288
XDR 0.81366
XOF 651.595031
XPF 119.331742
YER 272.558396
ZAR 19.227854
ZMK 9799.676497
ZMW 28.776589
ZWL 350.563567
  • CMSC

    0.2200

    24.91

    +0.88%

  • BCC

    1.2250

    144.205

    +0.85%

  • JRI

    0.0085

    13.095

    +0.06%

  • CMSD

    0.1890

    25.169

    +0.75%

  • SCS

    0.1200

    13.1

    +0.92%

  • NGG

    0.2600

    67.15

    +0.39%

  • RBGPF

    1.0100

    60.5

    +1.67%

  • BCE

    0.9050

    33.465

    +2.7%

  • RIO

    -1.2950

    66.405

    -1.95%

  • GSK

    -0.1480

    38.982

    -0.38%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0400

    6.99

    -0.57%

  • AZN

    -0.3500

    77.75

    -0.45%

  • BTI

    -0.0970

    35.353

    -0.27%

  • RELX

    0.8490

    48.229

    +1.76%

  • BP

    -1.1550

    30.835

    -3.75%

  • VOD

    -0.0100

    9.67

    -0.1%

Neil Young-Spotify row underscores podcast disinformation issues
Neil Young-Spotify row underscores podcast disinformation issues

Neil Young-Spotify row underscores podcast disinformation issues

Neil Young's ultimatum to Spotify that it choose between his music and the controversial star podcaster Joe Rogan has become a flashpoint in the conversation over online disinformation and corporate responsibility to moderate it.

Text size:

The prolific rocker this week demanded the streaming giant remove his music -- he had 2.4 million followers and over six million monthly listeners -- unless it was willing to drop Rogan, whose show is the platform's most popular but is widely accused of peddling conspiracy theories.

Rogan, 54, has discouraged vaccination in young people and promoted the off-label use of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to treat the virus.

"I realized I could not continue to support SPOTIFY's life threatening misinformation to the music loving public," Young, a polio survivor, said in an open letter.

His challenge followed a demand from hundreds of medical professionals that the streaming service prevent Rogan from promoting "several falsehoods about Covid-19 vaccines," which they said is creating "a sociological issue of devastating proportions."

Rogan, who has a $100 million multi-year exclusive deal with Spotify, was kept on. On Wednesday Young's hits -- including "Heart of Gold," "Harvest Moon" and "Rockin' In The Free World" -- began vanishing from the platform.

The company -- which on Wednesday voiced "regret" over Young's move but cited a need to balance "both safety for listeners and freedom for creators" -- did not respond to an AFP query seeking further comment.

Last year, its CEO Daniel Ek told Axios he didn't think Spotify -- which recently began heavily investing in podcasts -- had editorial responsibility for Rogan.

He compared the podcaster to "really well-paid rappers," saying "we don't dictate what they're putting in their songs, either."

- 'Business concerns' -

Spotify's move drew applause online from organizations including Rumble, a video streaming platform popular with the right wing, which credited the Swedish company with "defending creators" and standing "up for free speech."

But Young, 76, also garnered wide praise for taking a stand, including from the World Health Organization chief. The musician has urged fellow artists to follow his lead.

Summer Lopez, the senior director of the free expression programs at nonprofit PEN America, emphasized that "he's probably one of the only artists who could really afford to make this kind of call."

"He has every right to do that," said the advocate at PEN, an organization dedicated to defending free speech. But she voiced concern over "broader calls for boycotting of Spotify," because "it is such an essential venue for artists to reach their audiences, and a source of income."

The role of platforms like Spotify to moderate content is complex, Lopez said, because unlike social media outlets it's a service "designed primarily to amplify art and artwork."

"I think the real issue here is that Spotify doesn't have a clear policy on this," Lopez said.

And she raised questions of whether "there's any meaningful independence" between "the decision-making process and their business concerns."

- 'Mandating more clarity' -

In recent years online media titans including Facebook and YouTube have come under fire for allowing conspiracy theorists to spread their views.

But despite its explosive growth, podcasting has largely flown under the radar.

Valerie Wirtschafter, a senior data analyst at the Brookings Institution who studies contemporary media and political behavior, said that's primarily because "it's such a big and decentralized space."

But she said audio is a particularly potent medium for spreading falsehoods: "There's a sort of personal experience that happens there."

The intimacy of sound combined with the conversational style of podcasts, Wirtschafter told AFP, allows listeners to process information in a way that "potentially makes it a stronger medium for these untruths, for this misinformation, to fester."

And tracking disinformation in a podcast is "kind of like the needle in the haystack," according to Wirtschafter. Episodes of "The Joe Rogan Experience" often fall in the two-to-three-hour range.

Moderation possibilities include disclaimers before episodes, Wirtschafter said, and platforms that host podcasts could also take steps to mediate their algorithms so they aren't "amplifying... harmful content."

Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist specializing in conspiracy theories at the University of Miami, meanwhile cautioned against giving any "tools of censorship" to government to combat disinformation.

"They can be used for benevolent reasons today, but those same tools will be available tomorrow for people who aren't quite as benevolent."

Lopez agreed, but cited a need for "mandating more clarity on how these decisions are being made, how appeals are handled."

"Giving researchers access to understand what the implications of those decisions are," she said, could help "better understand what the impact of different approaches might be."

For his part, Young dismissed accusations of promoting censorship.

"I did this because I had no choice in my heart," he wrote. "It is who I am. I am not censoring anyone."

"I am speaking my own truth."

D.Graf--NZN