Podcaster Joe Rogan says he was only seeking to have conversations with people who have "different opinions", in response to criticism that his podcasts promote virus misinformation.
Spotify says it will start adding content advisories before podcasts discussing COVID-19 in response to concerns raised by musicians and content creators including Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
"I've never tried to do anything with this podcast other than to just talk to people."
He also said that he schedules the guests on his podcast himself, and that he would try to book doctors with different opinions right after he talks to "the controversial ones".
Rogan noted that he earlier sat down on the show with Dr Sanjay Gupta, the chief medical correspondent for CNN, Dr Michael Osterholm, who is a member of President Joe Biden's COVID-19 advisory board, and Dr Peter Hotez from Baylor College of Medicine.
Rogan additionally welcomed the idea of adding advisories before podcasts related to COVID-19.
“Sure, have that on there. I'm very happy with that,” he said.
It comes after singer-songwriters Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removed their music from Spotify in protest against the popular streaming service allowing the airing of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.
In a post on Sunday, Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek laid out more transparent platform rules given the backlash stirred by Young, who on Wednesday had his music removed from Spotify after the tech giant declined to get rid of episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience, which has been criticised for spreading coronavirus misinformation.
"It is important to me that we don't take on the position of being content censor while also making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who violate them."
Mr Ek said the advisories would link to Spotify's fact-based COVID-19 hub in what he described as a "new effort to combat misinformation".
The change would roll out in the coming days, Mr Ek said. He did not specifically reference Rogan or Young.
The duke and duchess of Sussex who have signed a multi-year deal to produce and host podcasts for Spotify under their production company Archewell Audio, on Sunday urged Spotify to tame virus misinformation.
"Last April, our co-founders began expressing concerns to our partners at Spotify about the all too real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform," an Archewell spokesperson said in a statement.
Earlier Sunday, Nils Lofgren, the Bruce Springsteen guitarist and a member of Crazy Horse, a frequent collaborator with Young, said he was joining Young's Spotify revolt.
Lofgren said he had already had the past 27 years of his music removed and requested labels with his earlier music to do likewise.
On Friday, Joni Mitchell said she was seeking to remove all of her music from Spotify in solidarity with Young.
Earlier, hundreds of scientists, professors and public health experts asked Spotify to remove a December 31 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience that featured Robert Malone, an infectious-disease specialist who has been banned from Twitter for spreading COVID-19 misinformation.
Reuters/AP
