House probes Spotify over censorship after Joe Rogan, Steve Bannon ‘disinformation’ controversies

The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday launched an investigation into Spotify over concerns the music and streaming platform could be censoring free speech, The Post has learned.

Censorship has been a point of tension for Spotify, which has faced heated backlash for flagging COVID-19 information from podcaster Joe Rogan and banning Steve Bannon from the platform.

“More relevantly, it’s the pressure we are seeing the EU put on companies to censor more,” a source familiar with the probe told The Post.

In a letter sent to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, US Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) slammed recent laws from the EU and UK that require social media platforms – even those based in the US – to censor “disinformation” and “harmful content” or face massive fines.

“These foreign laws, regulations, and judicial orders may limit or restrict Americans’ access to constitutionally protected speech in the United States. Indeed, that appears to be their very purpose,” Jordan wrote in a copy of the letter obtained by The Post.

The committee ordered Spotify to preserve documents and all contact with foreign governments, as well as individuals linked to the White House, and provide this information to the House by Aug. 12, according to a letter obtained by The Post.

Spotify found itself caught in the midst of a controversy in 2022 over Rogan’s comments on COVID-19 – including claims that Ivermectin can cure the disease. 

Clinical trial data do not demonstrate that Ivermectin is effective in treating COVID-19 in humans, according to the FDA.

Outraged critics accused Spotify of permitting the spread of misinformation, and musician Neil Young famously pulled his music from the platform in protest.

The company vowed to include advisories on COVID-19 content after a group of scientists and medical professionals signed an open letter calling for Spotify to “take action against mass-misinformation events.”

At the time, Biden-era press secretary Jen Psaki called it “a positive step,” but added that the White House wants platforms to do “more.”

Rogan recalled the chaos during an episode of his show last month – and dished that two unnamed former presidents had been involved in the protests against his discussion of the pandemic.

Spotify also banned Bannon’s “War Room” podcast in 2020 after he threatened Anthony Fauci and former FBI Director Christopher Wray, calling for Trump to put their “heads on pikes.”

The podcast returned to Spotify last month after a five-year suspension.

While Spotify is based in Stockholm, Sweden, it has a large presence among American users, as well as New York offices in the World Trade Center.

Along with pressure at home, aggressive foreign laws that punish online platforms for “disinformation” could be forcing companies like Spotify to censor content for all users, including those in the US, which is a violation of free speech, Jordan claimed.

In the letter, the chairman nodded to an incident in August 2024, when Thierry Breton, who at the time was responsible for enforcing EU content laws, warned X and its owner Elon Musk that it may need to censor content to prevent “potential spillovers in the EU.”

Though the social media platform is based in Texas, its content – in this case, a live interview with then-president elect Donald Trump – is also available to EU users, making it subject to EU regulations.

Breton called on Musk to ensure that “all proportionate and effective mitigation measures are put in place regarding the amplification of harmful content.”

Many EU laws come hand-in-hand with hefty fines, like its Digital Services Act, which authorizes fines up to 6% of a platform’s global revenue – which could translate to billions of dollars for social media giants like Meta.

X has pushed back against some of these orders, even notching a win earlier this month over the Australian government.

Australia’s online safety commission had ordered X to block a post blasting government officials in favor of transgender care, or cough up a $520,000 fine.

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has similarly pushed back on content restrictions, announcing in January – just before Trump took office – that Facebook has done “too much censorship.”

The Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp owner scrapped its fact-checking and content moderation policies, opting for a crowd-sourced “Community Notes” model similar to Musk’s on X.