Last week, Young delivered an ultimatum to Spotify: that he would remove his music unless they took action on Rogan. After his music was taken down Wednesday, he said he hoped other artists would join him. “I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them,” the veteran star explained in a now-deleted letter.
“They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”
In her statement posted late Friday, Mitchell wrote: “I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.”
A Spotify spokesperson didn’t immediate respond to BuzzFeed News on Saturday. But in response to Young’s initial criticism, the company said it has “detailed content policies” in place and has removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID-19.
It wasn’t immediately clear what content would violate its policy, or why the misinformation shared on Rogan’s podcast didn’t qualify.
In the scientists’ letter, they held Spotify responsible for what Rogan and his guests 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 letter concluded.
