"He has every right to do that," said the advocate at PEN, an organization dedicated to defending free speech. Summer Lopez, the senior director of the free expression programs at nonprofit PEN America, emphasized that "he's probably one of the only artists who could really afford to make this kind of call."
The musician has urged fellow artists to follow his lead. Spotify's move drew applause online from organizations including Rumble, a video streaming platform popular with the right wing, which credited the Swedish company with "defending creators" and standing "up for free speech."īut Young, 76, also garnered wide praise for taking a stand, including from the World Health Organization chief. He compared the podcaster to "really well-paid rappers," saying "we don't dictate what they're putting in their songs, either." 'Business concerns' Last year, its CEO Daniel Ek told Axios he didn't think Spotify - which recently began heavily investing in podcasts - had editorial responsibility for Rogan. The company - which on Wednesday voiced "regret" over Young's move but cited a need to balance "both safety for listeners and freedom for creators" - did not respond to an AFP query seeking further comment. On Wednesday Young's hits - including "Heart of Gold," "Harvest Moon" and "Rockin' In The Free World" - began vanishing from the platform. Rogan, who has a $100 million multi-year exclusive deal with Spotify, was kept on. His challenge followed a demand from hundreds of medical professionals that the streaming service prevent Rogan from promoting "several falsehoods about Covid-19 vaccines," which they said is creating "a sociological issue of devastating proportions." "I realized I could not continue to support SPOTIFY's life threatening misinformation to the music loving public," Young, a polio survivor, said in an open letter. Rogan, 54, has discouraged vaccination in young people and promoted the off-label use of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to treat the virus. The prolific rocker this week demanded the streaming giant remove his music - he had 2.4 million followers and over six million monthly listeners - unless it was willing to drop Rogan, whose show is the platform's most popular but is widely accused of peddling conspiracy theories.
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