Doctors demand Spotify take action over Joe Rogan covid misinformation

Doctors claim Rogan 'has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast'

Physicians and scientists have banded together to tackle podcast giant Joe Rogan and his many ill-founded opinions on covid-19. The 54-year-old podcaster has legions of fans and continually pops up in headlines for his opinions on covid, the vaccine, and a drug everyone keeps saying is definitely not for horses - ivermectin. While one person shouldn’t be cause for concern, a group of 270 scientists think Rogan is enough of a threat to demand Spotify take action. A note obtained by Rolling Stone details 270 medical experts stating that Rogan “has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine.” The letter expands on such claims, detailing how he has discouraged young people from taking the vaccine and pushed for ivermectin as a treatment. They also noted a recent episode of Rogan’s podcast where he interviewed Dr Robert Malone which was removed from Twitter for promoting misinformation and comparing pandemic policies to the Holocaust. “People who don’t have the scientific or medical background to recognize the things he’s saying are not true and are unable to distinguish fact from fiction are going to believe what [Malone is] saying, and this is the biggest podcast in the world. And that’s terrifying,” said Dr Ben Rein, noting Rogan’s interview with Dr Malone. While the letter doesn’t ask the music streaming platform to tackle Rogan directly, it requests that Spotify “immediately establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform.” They also note that previous episodes of the podcast have been removed. https://twitter.com/slpng_giants/status/1481362231497564163 This is clearly part of a more comprehensive conversation happening in the social stratosphere, where platforms are starting to crack down on potentially harmful misinformation.

Related links:

• Joe Rogan is sick of people mocking him for taking horse medicine
• Joe Rogan tests positive for Covid after telling listeners not to get vaccine
• Leading British anti-vaxxer hospitalised with covid