Spotify CEO Says ‘Silencing’ Rogan Not the Answer, Though Some Episodes Removed: Report

Spotify and music streaming site Spotify apparently explained to their employees, in memo form, that Joe Rogan, podcaster of the podcast, had removed some episodes from his podcast following outrage about past language. But they warned him not to silence.

Spotify CEO Daniel EkHe told his staff in February that Spotify leaders are making attempts to alleviate their fears, but did not go so far as to silence Rogan. “While I strongly condemn what Joe has said and I agree with his decision to remove past episodes from our platform, I realize some will want more … . And I want to make one point very clear – I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer,” Ek reportedly wrote, according to a Feb. 6 article from Axios. “We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope. Looking at the issue more broadly, it’s critical thinking and open debate that powers real and necessary progress.” 

Ek also claimed, contrary to the usual expectation of Big Tech censorship that Rogan would remove his old episodes by himself. 

“I think it’s important you’re aware that we’ve had conversations with Joe and his team about some of the content in his show, including his history of using some racially insensitive language. He decided to delete a few episodes of Spotify after these talks and reflections. He also issued his own apology over the weekend.”

Spotify did reportedly bend the knee to liberal identity politics, however, vowing to spend a fortune on “historically marginalized” groups: “I am committing to an incremental investment of $100 million for the licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalized groups.”

Recode founder and New York TimesKara Swisher from contributor Kara Swisher objected as always to the existence of a Big Tech platform didn’t take a harder approach against free speech: “The use of the pointedly scary and loaded word ‘silencing’ is the tech tell here — creating a false narrative when most are just asking for corrections of blatant and dangerous inaccuracies, not a gag.” She also mocked the idea of being concerned with “Cancel” culture, comparing it to conservative concerns over liberal media bias: “Also like clockwork, the ‘cancel’ word. Trotted out like ‘fake news’ when someone points out an obvious error or egregious misinformation.”

Ek addressed the removal of Rogan’s podcast episodes earlier in the week, which were reportedly around 70 episodes. The Verge noted that “The total number of deleted Joe Rogan Experience episodes is now 113, according to the website jremissing.com.”

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