Opinion
Flashback: Neil Young participated in ‘Freedom of Speech Tour’ before advocating censorship of Joe Rogan
Media high headlines February 4
In media information at the moment, an AP reporter spars with the State Division’s Ned Value over allegations on Russia, a report claims that Jeff Zucker and Allison Gollust gave Andrew Cuomo COVID ‘speaking factors’ to fight Trump, and an MSNBC broadcast will get interrupted by a ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ flag.
Musician Neil Younger seems to have had a change of coronary heart in the case of the proper of Individuals to say how they really feel a couple of specific political problem, even when others don’t agree with them.
The liberal singer threw himself into the headlines final week following a choice to take away his content material from Spotify in protest over Joe Rogan’s podcast, complaining the latter was spreading misinformation concerning the coronavirus pandemic to his hundreds of thousands of listeners, and he not needed to share a platform with him.
Nevertheless, Younger’s historical past of talking out on political points runs in distinction to his present place on Rogan, contemplating he participated in a 2006 “Freedom of Speech tour” that traveled the nation protesting the then-involvement of U.S. troopers in Iraq and Afghanistan, usually to unpleasant crowds.
Musician Neil Younger speaks throughout a session on the Worldwide CES Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, in Las Vegas.
(AP Photograph/John Locher)
JOE ROGAN HITS THE RIGHT NOTE AFTER NEIL YOUNG ATTACK, SPOTIFY PLAYS DEFENSE
“I used to be a nervous wreck by the tip of that tour. I by no means wish to do one other tour like that in my life. I imply, that was so completely different from each different tour I’ve carried out,” Younger informed Rolling Stone in a 2008 interview. “Simply getting up in entrance of lots of people makes you nervous. However when that a few of them are actually going to be indignant at you, and also you’re in a crowd, and it’s a unstable state of affairs, folks have been ingesting, no matter — , it makes you nervous.”
“It was simply that important time in historical past the place issues have been turning. Issues have been altering,” he added. “Those that really feel the best way we do had some hope and people who don’t really feel the best way we do have been indignant that the change occurred. And people folks have gotten a voice, they usually have a purpose for feeling the best way they do. They strongly consider within the convictions. They consider within the navy.”
“They consider that we’re doing the proper factor for the world, they usually have each purpose to be revered for his or her beliefs,” he stated.
Comic Joe Rogan
(Photograph by: Vivian Zink/Syfy/NBCU Photograph Financial institution/NBCUniversal by way of Getty Photographs)
JOE ROGAN CRITICS NEIL YOUNG AND JONI MITCHELL HAVE THEIR HISTORY OF OFFENSES
Younger’s then-position on respecting the beliefs of others closely contrasted his method to Rogan as he demanded the streaming large select between the 2.
“They will have [Joe] Rogan or Younger,” he reportedly posted in a letter to his administration workforce. “Not each.”
He additionally wrote that Spotify has a “accountability to mitigate the unfold of misinformation on its platform, although the corporate presently has no misinformation coverage.”
A “Freedom of Speech Tour” poster from 2006
(Freedom of Speech Tour)
Different artists adopted Younger’s lead by pulling their music from Spotify; nonetheless the corporate opted to maintain Rogan’s content material and as an alternative applied a “content material advisory” label to fight the unfold of misinformation.
Rogan additionally issued an apology and promised to broaden the viewpoints he introduced onto his present.
Fox Enterprise’ Edmund DeMarche contributed to this report.
