Jan 15, 2022

5:19 AM IST, 14 Jan 2022 3:51 AM IST, 14 Jan 2022 5:19 AM IST, 14 Jan 2022 Save (Bloomberg) -- A coalition of 270 scientists and medical professionals this week issued an open letter to Spotify Technology SA, urging the streaming platform to establish a misinformation policy after an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, among its most listened-to podcasts, promoted what they said were “baseless conspiracy theories” about the pandemic. (Bloomberg) -- A coalition of 270 scientists and medical professionals this week issued an open letter to Spotify Technology SA, urging the streaming platform to establish a misinformation policy after an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, among its most listened-to podcasts, promoted what they said were “baseless conspiracy theories” about the pandemic. The Dec. 31 program featured Robert Malone, a doctor who has called himself the “inventor” of mRNA vaccines, the type that serves as the basis for the Covid-19 vaccine. Malone was banned from Twitter for circulating anti-vaccine misinformation. YouTube deleted a recording of the Rogan podcast shortly after it was uploaded to the website by a third-party. “By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions, Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals,”  the letter says . The signers asked Spotify “to immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform.” Representatives for Spotify and Rogan didn’t immediately return a request for comment. Since the start of the pandemic, Spotify has removed 20,000 podcast episodes that contained Covid misinformation. The company has deleted  more than  40 episodes of Rogan's podcast to date. It  prohibits infringing and illegal content, as well as hate speech, on its platforms. But that hasn’t barred some creators from spreading false information. Critics say Spotify doesn’t have robust policies to combat misinformation, like Alphabet Inc.’s Youtube, Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook and other social media companies have adopted in recent years. The calculus for Spotify is complicated. The company has made a multibillion dollar investment in podcasting, which is only starting to pay off. Advertising generated 13% of total sales in the third quarter, and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek projected it would one day account for more than 20%. To achieve those goals, exclusive shows like Joe Rogan’s are key — his podcast was no. 1 on Spotify  globally and in the U.S. in 2021.