Spotify Is Officially Policing the Music It Hosts
Streaming service announces policy that “does not tolerate” hate content, but it’s more complicated when it comes to artists
By Amy X. Wang
Amid a period of racial unrest in the U.S. last year, Spotify removed several white nationalist “hate bands” from its catalog. On Thursday, it codified that action into official rules: Under a new public policy, Spotify will not tolerate content that “expressly and principally promotes, advocates or incites hatred or violence” based on personal characteristics like race, religion, sexual orientation and disability.
In a blog post, Spotify says that to detect hate music, it is partnering with rights advocacy groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center, which originally identified the bands that Spotify removed last year, and the Anti-Defamation League. It has also built an internal monitoring tool to find tracks that have been flagged on specific international registers. When alerted to potentially policy-violating content, Spotify may remove the music (after consulting with rights holders) or refrain from programming it onto the service. It’s not the only digital music service to take action against hate content — in 2014, for instance, Apple’s iTunes also removed white power groups from…
