Editor’s note: The Daily will be off on Monday, returning Tuesday with your morning headlines, resources, and tips. See you soon!
What makes a statement by a podcaster worthy of a lawsuit? Attorney Maria Speth is an internet law expert with clear answers on defamation, free speech, and a few “no-go zones.” As she tells Tracy Hazzard of Authority Magazine, there’s a fine line between going overboard and potentially going to court.
More than other media, podcast listeners tend to “self-select into groups where they are exposing personal standpoints,” Hazzard says. “However, unless you directly harass someone, lie about them or specifically mention them, any case they try to bring against you will most likely be frivolous and go nowhere.”
In podcasting, consequences are almost always personal or professional rather than legal. (When Joe Rogan defended previous comments with “I’m not a doctor, I’m a … moron,” the disclaimer somewhat earned him a pass from the public.) Think before you publish — common sense is a reliable co-host.
Apple and Spotify may be neglecting the podcast industry’s best hope against misinformation. Valerie Wirtschafter, a senior data analyst at the Brookings Institution, argues that listeners should be able to flag content. Without a system in place, it’s “difficult (or all but impossible)” to communicate with major platforms.
“Like Facebook or Twitter, podcast distributors largely rely on the ‘crowd’ to identify objectionable content,” Wirtschafter writes. So far, that crowd is more of a missed opportunity. Apple’s reporting tool leaves out false content altogether, and Spotify offers zero options to respond with legitimate concerns.
Wirtschafter’s ongoing research involves 8,000 episodes of popular political shows, finding that they’re “an ideal tool to inject false or misleading information into mainstream discourse while going undetected.” Setting up listener feedback would be messy and expensive, but a partial solution is better than none.
Heads up, new podcasters: Registration for September’s 28-Day Launch Challenge will be open for one more week. Members of this free class will have access to daily tasks, private community discussions, and a chance to win a pass to a Podcast Movement event in 2022.
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