Spotify is internally defending the appearance of conspiracy theorist and Infowars founder Alex Jones on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, despite banning his own podcast two years before for “hate content.”
In an internal email, obtained by Buzzfeed News on Wednesday (October 28), Horacio Gutierrez, the company’s chief legal officer and head of global affairs, wrote to team managers about the episode without explicitly naming Joe Rogan or Alex Jones.
“If a team member has concerns about any piece of content on our platform, you should encourage them to report it to Trust & Safety because they are the experts on our team charged with reviewing content. However, it’s important that they aren’t simply flagging a piece of content just because of something they’ve read online. It’s all too common that things are taken out of context,” he wrote.
The email outlined “talking points” that top management should recite if asked about the interview.
“We are not going to ban specific individuals from being guests on other people’s shows, as the episode/show complies with our content policies,” he wrote.
“Spotify has always been a place for creative expressions. It’s important to have diverse voices and points of view on our platform. We are not going to ban specific individuals from being guests on other people’s shows, as the episode/show complies with our content policies,” the talking points went on to say.
“In closing, we appreciate that not all of you will agree with every piece of content on our platform. However, we do expect you to help your teams understand our role as a platform and the care we take in making decisions.”
Back in 2018, Spotify was one of a few companies including Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, that kicked Alex Jones off their platforms based on their own policies against hate content.
During his appearance on the podcast this week, Alex Jones controversially made several claims, including conspiracy theories about the pandemic and vaccines, and falsely stated that a polio vaccine caused recipients to get sick, via Buzzfeed.
Last month, a transgender celebrity called out Joe Rogan for anti-trans comments.
