Spotify provides promised COVID-19 content material advisory | Engadget

Spotify has lastly acted on its promise so as to add a COVID-19 content material advisory label. As CNBC reports (and Engadget can affirm), you may now see a tab for a COVID-19 Guide whenever you go to podcasts and different content material discussing the brand new coronavirus. Tap it and you will go to a bit that factors you to authoritative sources (such because the UK’s National Health Service and the World Health Organization) in addition to reliable content material, together with podcast episodes from BBC News and The Guardian.

We’ve requested Spotify for remark. The advisory does not seem like out there in every single place — we could not see it in Canada as of this writing, as an example.

The part represents a part of Spotify’s response to criticism of Joe Rogan’s podcast. The host has been accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation by the Joe Rogan Experience, together with a December 2021 episode the place Dr. Robert Malone falsely claimed a “psychosis” fooled folks into believing vaccines have been efficient in opposition to the virus. Spotify answered the backlash with each a promise of the content material advisory in addition to public content material tips, however the label was anticipated to reach inside days, not months.

The content material warning may not do a lot to enhance Spotify’s picture. Numerous high-profile artists pulled or paused their work in protest over the misinformation current within the first place, together with Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and writer Brené Brown — a label is not more likely to fulfill them and different critics who need Spotify to take away misinformation. While Spotify’s efforts have addressed the considerations of some creators, together with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, there nonetheless seems to be some lasting harm.