Major social platforms have been cracking down on the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories in the run-up to the presidential election and have expanded their efforts following the January 6 Capitol riot. But Apple and Google, among others, have left an important gap open for this material: podcasts.
The podcasts available from the two Big Tech companies allow you to tune in to the world of QAnon’s conspiracy theory, wrapping yourself in President Donald Trump’s false claims about stolen elections and taking your head to other extremisms. Accounts that have been banned on social media for electoral misinformation, threat or intimidation and non-compliance with other rules also remain in place, as podcasts are available on the tech giants ’platforms.
Conspiracy theorists have sold stolen election fantasies, coronavirus conspiracies, and violent rhetoric. A podcaster, RedPill78, called the siege of the Capitol a “staged event” in a Jan. 11 episode of Red Pill News. The day before the Capitol Uprising, a more popular podcast, X22 Report, spoke confidently about a second Trump term, explained that Trump should “take out” many members of Congress to push his plans, and said “We, the people, are the storm and we get to DC.”
Both are available on the Apple and Google podcast platforms.
Podcasting “plays a particularly huge role” in the spread of white supremacy, he told Report 2018 of the Antifamation League. Many white supremacists, such as QAnon supporters, support Trump. Podcasting is an intimate, humanizing mode of communication that allows extremists to expose their ideas for hours at a time, said Oren Segal of the Center on ADL Extremism.
Elsewhere on social media, Twitter, Facebook i YouTube they have been cracking down on accounts that amplify QAnon’s unfounded claims that Trump is fighting deep enemies of the state and cannibals operating a circle of child trafficking. A major talk radio company, Cumulus, told its hosts to attenuate the rhetoric about stolen elections and violent riots or the cessation of risk, although it is not clear what impact this dictation has had.
Google-owned YouTube used “Bannon’s War Room,” a channel run by Trump loyalist Steve Bannon on Jan. 8 after spreading false election claims and calling for the beheading of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. expert on infectious diseases. But podcast versions of the Bannon show live on Apple and Google. Spotify withdrew it in November, according to one of its hosts.
“Podcasts full of hate and incitement to violence should not be treated differently than any other content,” Segal said. “If you want to take a firm stand against hatred and extremism on the platform in some way, it should be all-inclusive.”
Apple, Spotify, and Google organize major podcast lists and recommend them to users. Apple and Spotify are the dominant players in the United States, with other players far behind, said Dave Zohrob, CEO of podcast analysis firm Chartable. Despite its name recognition, Google remains a tiny presence.
Spotify said it suppresses podcasts that violate its policies against hate speech, copyright violations or violate any law, through “algorithmic and human detection measures” to identify violations. Apple guidelines prohibits illegal content or that promotes violence, graphic sex, or drugs or that is “considered obscene, unpleasant, or in bad taste.” Apple did not answer repeated questions about its content guidelines or moderation.
Google declined to explain the discrepancy between what’s available on YouTube and what’s on Google Podcasts, saying only that its podcast service “indexes the audio available on the web” in the same way as its engine. search indexes web pages. The company said it removes podcasts from its platform “under very rare circumstances, largely guided by local law.”
X22 Report and Bannon’s War Room were number 20 and number 32 on Apple’s list of major podcasts on Friday. (Experts say this list measures the momentum of a podcast rather than the total listener.) The X22 Report said in October that it was suspended by YouTube and Spotify and last week by Twitter. It is also no longer available on Facebook. It is supported by advertisements for products such as surviving food, unlicensed food supplements, and gold coins, which are posted before and during podcasts.
The Red Pill News website said YouTube banned its videos in October and followed a suspension on Twitter. The podcast is available on Apple and Google, but not on Spotify.
Several QAnon advocates affected by the crackdown sued YouTube in October, calling their actions a “mass deformation”. Plaintiffs include X22 Report, RedPill78, and David Hayes, who directs another conspiracy podcast called Praying Medic that is available on Apple and Google, but not on Spotify.
Melody Torres, who podcasts on SoulWarrior Uncensored, has identified herself as a longtime QAnon follower and said in a recent episode that her podcast is “just my way of not being censored.” She said she was kicked out of Twitter in January and started from Instagram four times last year. He currently has Instagram, Facebook and YouTube accounts; your podcast is available on Spotify, Apple and Google.
X22 Report, RedPill78, and Hayes did not respond to requests for comment sent through their websites. Torres did not reply to any Facebook messages.
Podcasts suffer from the same problem of misinformation as other platforms, said Shane Creevey, chief editor of Kinzen, a startup created by former Facebook and Twitter executives that provides tracking of misinformation to companies, including some that host or commission podcasts.
Creevey points out that it is more difficult to analyze misinformation from video and audio than from text. Podcasts can also run for hours, making them difficult to control. And podcasting has additional challenges, as there are no reliable statistics about your audience, unlike a YouTube feed, which displays views, or a tweet or Facebook post, which shows “likes” and “shares. “Creevey said.
But some argue that the moderation of the technology company is opaque and inconsistent, creating a new set of problems. Censorship “goes against what is popular at any given time,” said Jillian York, an expert with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group. Right now, he said, “this tide goes against the discourse of right-wing extremists … but tomorrow the tide could be against opposition activists.”
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AP technology editor David Hamilton contributed to this article.