Member-only story
The Freedom to Spread Dangerous COVID Misinformation
The Spotify story is about unethical corporate governance, not First Amendment rights
Earlier this week, Neil Young gave Spotify an ultimatum: you can have me or Joe Rogan on your platform, not both. Personally, I’ve listened to hundreds of hours of Neil Young, and almost none of Joe Rogan. The former is a rock legend, and the latter is an idiot. However, it’s understandable why Spotify would choose a clear moneymaker over someone whose music peaked 50 years ago. Neil Young is not pulling in the same numbers as Joe Rogan, and this is a clear cut case of business as usual.
It’s heartwarming to see music fans and artists band together to stand up to Spotify for supporting someone who actively spreads dangerous disinformation. But can’t we admit the role virtual signaling has played in all this? Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn spread the same filth. Where are the boycotts for them? Sure, these companies didn’t sign a $100 million contract with Joe Rogan, but they let the President of the United States actively spread the same COVID misinformation and election lies on social media for months with no repercussions.
In 2020, Cornell analyzed 38 million English-language documents, and they found the single greatest spreader of COVID misinformation was one man: Donald Trump. Yet the president was never banned…
