Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise

thereof, or bridging the freedom of speech or the press, or the right of the people peaceably

to assemble and to petition the government for a regressive grievances.

That's the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Why am I reading it to you?

Because some people seem to be confused about what it means.

The First Amendment has absolutely nothing to do with the latest Joe Rogan controversy.

But because Rogan's dangerous COVID disinformation was making a dent in Spotify's bottom line,

their CEO released the statement.

We know we have a critical role to play in supporting creator expression while balancing

it with the safety of our users.

In that role, 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.

Wow, strong stuff.

Rogan also responded, claiming that it's his goal to create lively conversations, not

promote misinformation.

He promised, no doubt, with his fingers crossed behind his back, that he would do his best

in the future to, quote, balance things out.

He's opened, he continued, to having more experts with differing opinions on right after

I have the controversial ones, which undoubtedly means he won't bother.

The CEO claimed that Spotify has removed an excess of 20,000 podcast episodes, including

...