Spotify publishes ‘long-standing Platform Rules’ for the first time after Neil Young leaves the streaming giant

After losing the music library of two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Neil Young, an online backlash, and a stock price dive, Spotify addressed accusations that the company is fostering podcasts that allegedly spread COVID-19 misinformation. In an official statement from CEO and founder Daniel Ek, the company noted that it has “long-standing Platform Rules” that guide creators (like podcast hosts) on what not to do when publishing their content on Spotify.

While Ek said these are “long-standing” rules, it is worth noting that they were only published following the controversy the company has seen over the last few days. The rules include a “Dangerous Content” section, which includes guidelines for content that potentially “promotes dangerous false or dangerous deceptive medical information.”

The rules indicate that a podcast or any content on Spotify could be removed if they are “asserting” that life-threatening diseases like AIDS and COVID-19 are not real. Another grounds for a possible content take-down is if a creator is “promoting or suggesting that vaccines approved by local health authorities are designed to cause death.”

Before the streaming platform’s rules were officially published, The Verge obtained screenshots of an internal memo reportedly sent by Spotify’s head of global communications and public relations, Dustee Jenkins, through Slack to address concerned employees. Jenkins also directed Spotify employees to then-internal company guidelines that contained similar rules about misleading healthcare information.

The same report noted, however, that the wording in the Platform Rules seems to give creators a wiggle room. For example, the publication said it appears that a podcast host or guest can claim that COVID-19 vaccines can cause death -- so long as they do not say vaccines are “designed” to be fatal -- and not face any repercussions from Spotify.

Last Monday, Young released a now-deleted letter (via Rolling Stone) to his manager and label about wanting his songs to be removed from Spotify, claiming that the company “is spreading fake information about vaccines.” In the same letter, Young singled out Joe Rogan’s podcast, which he noted is exclusively streamed on Spotify with an “estimated 11 million listeners per episode.” Young added, “Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.”

A few days later, Spotify confirmed it had started removing Young’s music from its platform. The move was followed by an apparent exodus from the streaming service. A number of Twitter users reported they had canceled their subscriptions, while others claimed they were unable to do so because Spotify’s customer support was reportedly hard to reach at the time.

At the height of the controversy, Variety reported that the Spotify market value dropped by more than $2 billion following a three-day stock price dive last week. Meanwhile, another music legend and Young’s fellow Hall of Famer Joni Mitchell also asked for her music to be removed from Spotify over the weekend. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who also have an exclusive podcast deal with Spotify, said in a statement that they have “continued to express our concerns” about COVID-19 misinformation.

Photo by Haithem Ferdi on Unsplash