|
I can somewhat understand the point of the employees here, but ultimately, I think it's a symptom of a larger problem - of easy propagation misinformation, with very little oversight. When someone makes a veritably false claim, like "they've arrested left-wing people for lighting those forest fires," it is incredibly difficult to retract that statement; and even now, retracting such statements doesn't change the impact the original statement had. People are still going to believe the original statement, regardless of its truth, or they won't see the correction - especially when, in this case, the original audio was not corrected, and the apology issued separately. The original could remain unchallenged in the original audio, and someone who doesn't know the context or follow the content creator may not know that the claim was false - assuming good faith. Or, the clip could be pulled out of context, with no apology or correction, to tout that statement, to push an agenda. So now, even with a veritably false claim, you can potentially demonize the "left-wing people" intentionally or not - and I would argue that the original intention does not matter. Joe Rogan has been given a platform, and he needs to use it responsibly. I'm still on the fence over whether or not Spotify should enforce that he uses the platform responsibly. When do you draw the line? At what point does his right to use Spotify as a platform outweigh the consequences of using the platform irresponsibly, potentially - or indirectly - causing harm? Inviting guests that promote transphobic onto his platform seems innocent enough, but transphobia is a major issue contesting the country, even ignoring veritably false claims being made about transpeople, and people have died over this conflict. If the platform is used irresponsibly, and veritably false information is propagated by the guest on his platform, is Joe Rogan responsible for that? What if that misinformation is what causes someone to commit a crime against transpeople? At what point should Joe Rogan, the one who promoted misinformation on a platform he controls, and that many people listen to, be held responsible for the consequences of what (and how) he disseminates to the people? Does his right to say false things outweigh the right of others to live without fear or persecution? I have yet to come up with an answer, because I don't know what the best solution is yet. |
No one has granted a right to live without fear. Fear is an emotional response.
I don't think a general non-persecution right exists.
A right to free speech exists from government persecution. A right to be treated equally based on gender exists at the government level.
The key point is spofity has a right to offer Joe money to use their platforms. Employees who disagree based on politics and threaten to quit working is new. If the company decides to replace them I don't believe they are in a legal position to strike.