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Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are now investigating whether Spotify has bowed to pressure from the Biden administration and European regulators to suppress speech on its platform.
The House Judiciary Committee, led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), has turned its attention to the music and podcast giant after mounting concern that international mandates are being used to shape what Americans are allowed to hear online.
The probe comes amid long-standing tensions over how Spotify handles voices like Joe Rogan and Steve Bannon.
Jordan, in a letter sent directly to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, blasted censorship demands coming from Europe and the UK. These laws compel platforms, regardless of their home base, to target what officials define as “disinformation” or “harmful content,” or risk steep financial penalties.
We obtained a copy of the letter for you here.
“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.
Spotify has been ordered to preserve internal communications, especially any involving foreign officials or members of the US executive branch. The company has until August 12 to comply with the committee’s request.
This congressional effort follows years of backlash aimed at the platform for how it has managed pandemic-era speech. Spotify came under fire in 2022 after Joe Rogan featured claims about Ivermectin being used to treat COVID-19.
Amid that uproar, artists like Neil Young pulled their music from Spotify, and a group of scientists penned an open letter demanding the company clamp down on what they called “mass-misinformation events.” The platform eventually began tagging COVID-19 content with advisory warnings.
Then–White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki welcomed that move as “a positive step” but added the administration wanted platforms to go further.
Rogan addressed the controversy again during a recent podcast, saying that two former US presidents were involved in the campaign against his content. He didn’t name them.
Spotify also drew attention in 2020 when it removed Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast. The move came after Bannon called on former President Trump to place the “heads on pikes” of Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray. The podcast was reinstated in June after a nearly five-year ban.
Although based in Stockholm, Spotify operates major offices in New York and Los Angeles and serves a vast American audience. That international footprint makes it vulnerable to global regulatory frameworks that don’t align with First Amendment principles.
The EU’s censorship law, the Digital Services Act, backs up these demands with the threat of enormous fines, as much as 6% of global revenue for non-compliant platforms. That could amount to billions for companies like Meta and X.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also indicated a shift in direction. In a statement released just before President Trump returned to office, he acknowledged that Facebook had engaged in “too much censorship” and announced the dismantling of many of its moderation systems. The company has since transitioned to a user-driven model similar to Musk’s “Community Notes” on X.
