Spotify removes Neil Young over COVID misinfo protest. Follow the money to see why.
“Spotify removes Neil Young following rocker’s protest over COVID-19 misinformation” – PBS
“I realized I could not continue to support Spotify’s life-threatening misinformation to the music loving people,” said Young.
Spotify airs the “The Joe Rogan Experience,” podcast where Rogan interviewed Dr. Robert Malone who has been banned from Twitter for spreading COVID misinformation and has falsely suggested that millions of people have been hypnotized into believing that the vaccines work to prevent serious disease.
This dashboard shows:
- COVID death count in America with real time data from John Hopkins Coronavirus center
- Artists who are boycotting Spotify over its COVID misinformation
- Swedish billionaires behind Spotify
- Biggest investors in Spotify
- Major advertisers on Rogan’s podcast
- How to contact other artists to encourage them to drop Spotify
- How to delete your Spotify account and move to Apple Music
#DeleteSpotify
Young said that many of Spotify’s listeners are hearing misleading information about COVID. They’re young, “impressionable and easy to swing to the wrong side of the truth,” he said. “These young people believe Spotify would never present grossly unfactual information,” he said. “They unfortunately are wrong. I knew I had to try to point that out.” – PBS
“Neil Young pulled his music from Spotify after falling out with the platform over its hosting of Joe Rogan and COVID misinformation… Apple Music is courting Young and his fans, sending out tweets, playlists, and even push notifications to brand itself as “The home of Neil Young.” – The Verge
Follow the money Spotify and Rogan make
Doctor’s demand Spotify curb misinformation
They highlighted an episode where Rogan interviewed controversial scientist and outspoken vaccine sceptic, Robert Malone, who was banned on Twitter for violating the platform’s COVID-19 misinformation policy. In the episode, Malone cast doubt on vaccine safety, and accused Dr Anthony Fauci, the US’ top infectious disease expert, and mainstream news outlets of ‘hypnotizing’ the population. Malone said the ‘hypnosis’ phenomenon could also be used to explain the initial success of the Nazi regime. “Mass-misinformation events of this scale have extraordinarily dangerous ramifications,” the letter, signed by 270 professionals, said. “This is not only a scientific or medical concern; it is a sociological issue of devastating proportions and Spotify is responsible for allowing this activity to thrive on its platform.” – The Feed
How this infographic was created
This interactive dashboard was designed with ArcGIS Online Dashboard with real time data feed on COVID cases and deaths from the John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. A network map was created with the free Kumu app to follow the money between Spotify, Rogan, investors and advertisers.
TakeAway: Hold platforms and investors responsible for the harm they cause by spreading misinformation in order to make money.
Deepak
DemLabs
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