Neil Young’s music is a hot topic right now, not because of a new release, but because Spotify removed its catalog after asking the company to choose between his music and Joe Rogan’s podcast. Now Disturbed’s David Draiman has praised Spotify for the move.

Earlier this week, Young posted a since-deleted letter to Spotify on its website, which called on the streaming platform to remove its own music or the podcast. The musician believes Rogan spread questionable information related to vaccines during his discussions.

Today, in a tweet to Spotify Founder and CEO Daniel Ek (see below), Draiman wrote: “Congratulations to you and Spotify for making the right call, for preserving the freedom of expression and not give in to the crowd. I may not agree with everything Joe Rogan or his guests say, but they have a right to have the forum to say it.”

With respect to freedom of speech, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of any religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or restricting freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of people to assemble peacefully and ask the government to redress their grievances. »

Cornell Law School summarizes this amendment as follows: “The first amendment guarantees the freedoms of religion, expression, assembly and the right to petition. It prohibits Congress both from promoting one religion over others and from restricting an individual’s religious practices. It guarantees free speech by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to free speech. It also guarantees the right of citizens to assemble peacefully and to petition their government.

The amendment makes no mention of institutions or entities other than Congress with respect to the right to free speech.

Following this post, another user tagged both Draiman and Rogan and said, “Would love to see David Draiman continue Joe Rogan [podcast]. It would be a great conversation, I bet.” The rocker replied, directing his response to Rogan, “I’m ready when you are.”

The Disturbed singer then followed up with his own remarks. “Let’s be clear. I don’t support any artist blackmailing an entity into following an agenda they believe in, whether it’s Neil Young on one side of the spectrum or Eric Clapton on the other,” he said. . “Music should not be used to sow division. It should be used to bring people together [in my honest opinion].”

The singer’s mention of Clapton refers to the guitarist’s own views on the vaccine. Last May, he revealed that after receiving two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, he suffered a reaction which hampered his ability to play the guitar. A few months later, he said he would not perform any show where vaccination is a requirement to attend, as he felt it was a form of “discrimination”.