When singer/songwriter Neil Young broke with the streaming service Spotify last week, he inspired other artists to follow him and kicked up a firestorm over the policing of content on such sites.

Spotify, which started as a music streaming service and now commands nearly a third of the market worldwide, has branched out into podcasts. Young took issue with coronavirus misinformation being peddled on one of them, the Joe Rogan Experience.

After Young's announcement, fellow singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell followed suit, along with Young's former bandmates Graham Nash, David Crosby and Stephen Stills, India.Arie and longtime E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren.

Those who frame this issue as one of free speech misconstrue the concept. Rogan has the right to say whatever he wants on his own dime.

What's really at issue here is how much responsibility tech organizations are going to take for the content they transmit.

Spotify, and Rogan in particular, want to behave as disinterested actors who are merely conduits of opinion. That's akin to a utility claiming no responsibility for the quality of water in its pipes.

Rogan said as much in his nonapology earlier this week. "I'm not a doctor. I'm not a scientist. I'm just a person who sits down and talks to people and has conversations with them."

His explanation would be fine if he were chewing the fat with a neighbor. He is not. He is hosting a podcast that reaches millions of people, and he also is providing a platform for others to reach those people.

When his guests spout misinformation about the efficacy of vaccines or tout snake-oil cures, they are potentially endangering people's lives.

And Spotify executives, whose response to this mess has been to put "content advisories" on any podcast discussing the virus, bear a responsibility for the content on their platform.

This responsibility is no different from a journalist's ethical obligation to report the truth. But the technical revolution that brought us social media has enabled untrained people, often entertainers, to act as journalists without following the ethical tenets of the profession.

Rogan is, let us not forget, a comedian and ex-game show host. He should not be in the business of interviewing anyone about a serious issue like the virus, and Spotify should not be giving him a multi-million-dollar platform to do so.

Rogan, with his aw-shucks response, and Spotify, with its underwhelming attempt at reining him in, have not adequately addressed this problem.

What neither one counted on was being held to account for their decisions. It took Neil Young, the writer of protest songs like "Ohio" and "Southern Man," to put the responsibility for misinformation squarely where it belongs: in the lap of the streaming service and the podcast host.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.