Communications, Censorship and Controversy
- Rylee Pohancsek
- Mar 8, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 23, 2022
Joe Rogan and Spotify's recent censorship controversy can teach us as communicators about what happens when a media company lacks policies and guidelines surrounding these issues and how to avoid a crisis communications plan because of it.
As Spotify is currently in the news because of controversies surrounding Joe Rogan and platforming his podcast, larger conversations about censorship are happening. As communicators, it is important to follow these conversations and the discourse that surround them. As individuals can reach a larger audience than ever on the internet, private companies are going to have to make their own decisions on what can be platformed and what can't be.
Joe Rogan, podcaster, joined an exclusive deal with Spotify in 2020 estimated to be worth more than 100 million dollars, though the podcast has been around since 2009. Controversy surrounding this deal sparked earlier this year in February when critics accused Joe Rogan of spreading COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation.
This, in turn, caused some notable musical artists to withdraw from the platform to protest Spotify. Spotify was left with three options: remove Joe Rogan from the platform, keep Joe Rogan’s podcasts but add disclaimers or keep Joe Rogan on the platform without changing anything.
Although censorship may seem like a new problem for Spotify, they have been involved in a similar controversy before. In 2018, Spotify released a “Hate Content and Conduct Policy” which was intended to lessen the promotion of artists they deemed controversial.
Artists such as R. Kelly had their songs removed from the company's sponsored playlists and the algorithm no longer pushed their music to audiences. While some agreed with this decision, some artists feared that they would be targeted because of their race. Spotify ultimately decided to pull this policy fearing that it would cause more controversy than harm.
COVID-19 has changed the way that media platforms treat misinformation as it becomes a divided issue in the United States. Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube have all opted to have independent fact-checkers and misinformation warning banners on posts and videos.
Spotify, however, had not had any policies in place for COVID-19 information which is why they were being questioned because of Joe Rogan; people who supported Joe Rogan wanted Spotify to remain as an open, untouched platform while those against Joe Rogan felt that it was time to put some policies in place.
As a public relations major, my first instinct is to ask why Spotify didn't take proactive and preventative measures rather than reactive ones. If Spotify had terms of service in place or an outline of guidelines surrounding censorship, they could defend themselves easier.
Instead, Spotify had left an opening for interpretation with their censorship abilities, leading many to question what side Spotify would take, even after having a controversy already with their terms and policies. Spotify ultimately decided to keep Joe Rogan on the platform, but added COVID-19 content advisories on any media on the platform that mentioned COVID-19.
Though I agree with Spotify’s final decision, I do question why a media group would not have policies established surrounding issues of censorship. As a media company, they are platforming millions of artists, creators and podcasters which means it was only a matter of time before there was a controversy surrounding someone.
Historically, there have been instances where individuals question if their freedom of speech has been infringed upon online, but at the end of the day, private companies can decide their own policies and limit who gets to say what. Spotify could have de-platformed Joe Rogan if they wanted to but opted instead to keep him on the platform with restrictions. Media platforms must have policies in place and stick to them, that way if there is any reason for doubt, these platforms can have a constant communications plan to refer back to.
#Spotify #music #censorship
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