Joe Rogan’s podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” has generated a debate as to whether Spotify should remove the podcast from its platform because he spreads misinformation about COVID-19, vaccines and other matters. 

Eleven million listeners were already tuning in to Rogan’s show long before Spotify made a deal to promote it exclusively. But by investing money to promote the podcast as Spotify’s exclusive brand, the platform is spreading Rogan’s message still further and sending a false, anti-vaccine message to millions more people who might have never heard him. 

Spotify’s enormous spending on the licensing agreement with Rogan, of as much as $200 million, only raises the company’s responsibility to remove him: it’s conceivable that those dollars might help Rogan create future episodes featuring guests who promote more false information. 

A governing principle in America is free speech, but a platform with as much reach as Spotify has a duty not to amplify views that it knows to be false to listeners who may see Spotify’s backing as giving those views credibility. 

The removal of Joe Rogan from Spotify will not prevent him from telling the world whatever he wants. But it will prevent him from spreading his damaging and potentially deadly falsehoods to an even wider audience with the stamp of legitimacy that a name like Spotify carries. For the time being, it is important to alert those who are unaware of the fallacies that Rogan is spreading, and Spotify carries as much responsibility as Rogan does.