Earlier this week, folk rock star Neil Young wrote a letter to Spotify, asking the company

to remove his music from its streaming service.

He says, 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.

That's our colleague Ann Steele, reading from Neil Young's letter.

The person Young was accusing of spreading misinformation is a podcaster, Joe Rogan.

Rogan hosts one of the most popular podcasts in the US, and his show is exclusively available

on Spotify.

Spotify is the parent company of Gimlett, which co-produces our show.

And so Neil Young says, Spotify can have Joe Rogan, or they can have Neil Young.

He threw down the gauntlet.

Yes.

But Spotify chose Joe Rogan.

Days later, Neil Young's catalog with songs like Heart of Gold and Harvest Moon had been

taken down.

And this situation has sparked a debate over Spotify's responsibility to moderate misinformation

on its platform.

Because Spotify has expanded into podcasting, they've become less of this pure play tech

company and become more like a media company.

And as we see with other media companies, they end up being held responsible for the content

that they're not only distributing, but helping create and promote.

Welcome to the journal.

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