By Ed West
The Joe Rogan Spotify controversy is not about cool science people v antivax rubes.
An elderly man wishes to have a controversial radio host banned from an entertainment platform because he’s encouraging the misuse of drugs. The great and the good rally in support of the veteran cultural figure, even if not everyone agrees that censorship is the right course.
To paraphrase Scott Alexander: ‘When was the last time you could hear a story like that and have it be even slightly probable that the [old man] was rightist?’
Neil Young is off Spotify after giving the streaming service a him-or-me ultimatum about the Joe Rogan Experience and its platforming of anti-vaxxers and people promoting the use of ivermectin. ‘They can have Rogan or Young,’ he wrote. ‘Not both.’
Joni Mitchell has also removed her catalogue; like Young, she was a childhood polio survivor so has good reason to approve of vaccines generally. Even Prince Harry and Meghan have added their moral weight, always a good bellwether of whether a belief is now mainstream and hegemonic, although if I were them I’d probably keep quiet about Spotify.
Rogan has certainly entertained some colourful characters, including not just those overplaying the risk of myocarditis in younger people taking the vaccine, but full-up anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists. He features people making both sides of the argument, but that kind of fake balance is arguably even more irresponsible. There aren’t really two ‘sides’ to the vaccine debate, if the overwhelming evidence is that they are safe and effective. Similarly, with global warming, although that’s slightly more complicated.
