New York Times tech reporter-columnist Kevin Roose took on the controversy between hugely popular podcaster-interviewer Joe Rogan and the music-media streaming provider Spotify over supposed misinformation Rogan spread about Covid vaccines in an interview with a controversial doctor. The story dominated the front of Tuesday’s Business section: “Staying Power Of an Uproar.”
It wasn’t hard to spot Roose was setting Rogan up for a fall. His jittery fear of conservative “misinformation” online has only increased during the COVID era and the Black Lives Matter riots:
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:
After being accused of encouraging anti-establishment comments, a popular internet personality is the target of heated criticism. This is dangerous misinformation.
The controversy engulfs the creator’s biggest platform, which has rules prohibiting dangerous misinformationThe company now has to comply with them against one its most high-profile users.
….the backlash intensifies. The boycott is organized by civil rights organizations. Advertisers stop running their ads. The hashtag trend. The platform’s employees threaten to walk out. The platform’s employees threaten to walk out. Days later, the chief executives is faced with the dilemma of whether to bar a famous creator (and face the fury and anger from his fans) or become a hypocriteIt is an enabler for dangerous behaviour.
How many times has Roose accused Rogan of misinformation?
Now, it’s Spotify’s turn. Since Mr. Rogan died, there have been calls from Spotify for several weeks demanding that they take legal action against Joe Rogan. accused of promoting Covid-19 misinformation on his show, including hosting a guest who had been barred by Twitter for spreading false information about Covid-19 vaccines. This month, a group of hundreds of medical experts urged Spotify to crack down on Covid-19 misinformation, saying Mr. Rogan had a “concerning history” of promoting falsehoods about the virus.
Roose arranged methods to attack Rogan in the guise reporting
After arguing that Spotify’s exclusive rights to Rogan’s show “gives the company more responsibility for his show than others it carries,” he pivoted to the threat of music stars withdrawing their hits: “…in theory, musicians with enough firepower could force change simply by threatening to remove their albums. (As a viral tweet last week put it: “Taylor Swift could end Joe Rogan with a single tweet at Spotify.”)…”
So, how will Mr. Rogan’s backlash cycle end? It’s hard to say.
It’s clear how Roose wants it to end, given his obsession with “misinformation.” As if Rogan is purposely spreading lies (and who decides what is “misinformation” on Covid anyway?As opposed to drawing attention in interviews to controversial figures.
The reporter was certainly casual about people he doesn’t like, even presidents, being permanently banned from online public spaces:
It could end up like Mr. Jones or Mr. Trump’s behavior, which was outrageous and continued to violate the rules even after being called out). We had no choice but to permanently close them down.
Roose doesn’t think it’s going to “simply fizzle out…given that boycotts have already begun and appear to be snowballing.” He ended with this encouragement to the ban-Rogan brigade:
Spotify may think it’s gotten past the worst of the Rogan backlash. Recent history has shown that even though it may seem like Spotify is over the worst of the Rogan backlash, this can often be just a warmup.
Roose, who has long been a foe of conservative speech online, seems to have a lack of both a sense and humor. He even finds the Christian satire site Babylon Bee “misinformation.”
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