The 1960s were known for political activism that moved issues, so it’s fitting that two musical icons from that era have used the power of protest to achieve a small victory against pandemic disinformation. Neil Young and Joni Mitchell last week pulled their music from Spotify to protest podcaster Joe Rogan’s spreading of false and dangerous lies regarding the coronavirus on the platform.
Spotify has responded by vowing to put up content warnings, and Rogan says he will start including mainstream expert voices in his interviews. Those raising free speech concerns are missing the broader point when they claim this is censorship: The musicians’ protest is free speech, and it has prompted the beginnings of change. Other musicians should step up.
Rogan’s worst offense against sound science has been turning Dr. Robert Malone into a superstar of the anti-vaccination movement. Malone promotes the myth that coronavirus vaccines are ineffective and dangerous. To promote this lie, he once publicized a video claiming the vaccine had killed a young high school athlete (in fact, the youth had died of unrelated causes years earlier). Malone also publicized a scientific study claiming to show vaccines are dangerous, without revealing the study had been retracted by its authors for factual errors.
