Spotify: Streaming giant announces plans to clamp down on Covid misinformation

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek speaking at a conferenceImage source, Getty Images
Image caption, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said he recognsied that the company had an "obligation" to provide more balance on its platform

Advisory warnings are going to be added to the platform that discusses Covid-19.

Daniel Ek unveiled the plans to bar the streaming giant's contributors from sharing deceptive information that could pose a threat to public health.

He said that the new advisory warning will lead users to a data hub of coronaviruses facts.

The work with Joe Rogan has been criticized.

In a statement posted to the website, Mr Ek wrote that he has become clear to him that we have an obligation to do more to provide balance and access to widely-accepted information from the medical and scientific communities guiding us through this unprecedented time.

ThePlatform Rules will include guidelines for creators on what the platform labels "dangerous" and "deceptive" content.

The new rules have been developed by the company in conjunction with a team of external experts and will be updated regularly, according to the Swedish billionaire.

In recent weeks the company has come under scrutiny over the views of its star host, Joe Rogan, who agreed a $100 million deal to move his popular podcast exclusively onto the platform in late 2020.

Mr Rogan has promoted the use of a drug called ivermectin to treat the virus and discouraged vaccination in young people.

Neil Young and Joni Mitchell led a group of artists in demanding that their music be removed from the platform.

In a post to his website on Wednesday, Mr Young called the site the home of life threatening Covid misinformation.

The duke and duchess have relayed their concerns to the platform over Covid misinformation, but will continue to work with it.

In early January, a group of doctors, scientists and healthcare professionals signed an open letter to Spotify citing Rogan's concerns about history in discussing the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Joe Rogan Experience has 200 million downloads a month.

  • Spotify
  • Coronavirus vaccines
  • Joni Mitchell