Headline Roundup • January 4th, 2022
YouTube, Twitter Remove Joe Rogan's Interview with Virologist About COVID-19
Coronavirus,Free Speech,Online Censorship,Big Tech,YouTube,Twitter,Technology,Social Media,Coronavirus Vaccine,Misinformation And Disinformation,Joe Rogan,Podcast
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Multiple social media platforms have removed podcaster Joe Rogan's recent interview with a U.S. virologist about COVID-19.
In the interview, Dr. Robert Malone compared the current U.S. attitude toward COVID-19 and vaccines to the "mass formation psychosis" seen in Germany during the rise of the Nazis. "Very intelligent, highly educated population, and they went barking mad. And how did that happen? The answer is mass formation psychosis," said Malone. "...their attention gets focused by a leader or series of events on one small point, just like hypnosis. They literally become hypnotized and can be led anywhere.” Malone had recently been suspended by Twitter for violating the platform's COVID-19 misinformation policy. YouTube said it removed the Rogan interview for violations of its Community Guidelines. After Twitter and YouTube removed the interview, Rogan announced that he was joining social media platform GETTR "in case sh*t over at Twitter gets even dumber." Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Ga.) personal Twitter account was also permanently suspended recently for COVID-19 misinformation violations.
Right-rated outlets covered the story more, often highlighting free speech concerns and Malone's role in creating mRNA vaccines. Most also framed the removal of the video by Twitter and YouTube in a negative light. Coverage across the spectrum focused on Rogan's move to GETTR. Reports from left- and center-rated outlets often framed GETTR as a platform for conservatives, and described Malone as controversial, "antivaxx," or a spreader of COVID-19 misinformation.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire
Podcast mogul Joe Rogan announced on Sunday that he's joining GETTR, a conservative alternative to Twitter with less stringent community standards on misinformation and a more narrow definition of hate speech.
In a statement to Insider, GETTR CEO Jason Miller linked Rogan's arrival to a record setting six figure boost in new users the same day.
"More than 171,000 people signed up for GETTR after Joe Rogan announced he was joining our platform, making Sunday the biggest day for our platform since we launched on July 4," Miller, a former...
Bethany Clarke/Getty Images
Twitter on Wednesday suspended the account operated by Dr. Robert Malone, a U.S.-based virologist and immunologist who claims to be the inventor of mRNA technology and is an outspoken critic of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.
Malone is an internationally recognized vaccine researcher who has authored dozens of scientific papers and been cited thousands of times. He was the primary author of a 1989 paper that demonstrated how RNA could be delivered into cells and a co-author on a 1990 paper that showed how injecting pure RNA or DNA into mouse muscle cells can lead...
(Getty Images)
YouTube has removed a video of a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience in which the podcast host was talking to Dr Robert Malone – a physician with a history of controversial statements related to Covid-19.
The episode in question, No 1757, was uploaded to Spotify on New Year's Eve, as Mr Rogan has an exclusive deal with the streaming service. While Mr Rogan no longer uploads full shows to YouTube, several third-party channels have taken it upon themselves to post the episodes that would otherwise only be available on Spotify.
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