Music streaming giants Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Deezer, and more have found themselves in hot water after a recent investigation by BBC unveiled a trove of uploads on the platforms containing hateful white power rhetoric and speeches from Adolf Hitler. Fortunately, the streaming platforms have taken immediate action following the investigation, and according to BBC, “removed racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic content from their services.”
The content in question includes bands promoting and revering “Aryan nations”, as well as Holocaust celebrations and other harmful racist content. Civil rights advocate Eric Ward spoke on the matter, stating,
“The onus is on streaming platforms to do a better job at monitoring and searching for this music. They simply need to invest more. This is about the credibility of a company and a brand. Brands are important and white power music will damage your streaming brand.”
Spotify’s hateful content policy was updated in 2018, and the discovered uploads were removed and found to be in direct violation. This is not the first time the Swedish streaming giant faced controversy over monitoring the platform. Spotify was the subject of controversy after ending promotion of music from R. Kelly and XXXTentacion in the wake of alarming allegations brought forward against both artists. Spotify removed any music from the two from algorithmic and editorial playlists, though their music is still available to stream from their artist profiles.
H/T: BBC
