Spotify has pulled several white-supremacist bands from its service, Billboard reported Wednesday.
This move comes three years after Southern Poverty Law Center flagged a certain number of groups as “hate bands,” according to Billboard. Just a few days ago, violence broke out and one woman died in Charlottesville, Virginia during the “Unite The Right” rally.
On Monday, Digital Music News published a story titled “I Just Found 27 White Supremacist Hate Bands on Spotify.”
Spotify confirmed to Billboard that it had removed some bands but declined to name any specific groups.
“Illegal content or material that favors hatred or incites violence against race, religion, sexuality or the like is not tolerated by us,” a Spotify spokesperson told Billboard. “Spotify takes immediate action to remove any such material as soon as it has been brought to our attention. We are glad to have been alerted to this content – and have already removed many of the bands identified today, whilst urgently reviewing the remainder,” the statement continued.
Spotify is also looking into proactively blocking this type of content from being recommended by its platform, according to Billboard.
Simultaneously, Spotify created playlist called “Patriotic Passion” that includes Jimi Hendrix rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, Lady Gaga’s “Americano,” and Khalid’s “American Teen,” according to Billboard.
Mashable looked for this playlist and could not spot it as of press time, however.
Spotify did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Spotify hasn’t been shy of promoting playlists that opposed actions by the U.S. government. For example, Spotify launched an initiative in July called “I’m with the banned” by spotlighting music and videos from artists from Iran, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, and Libya — six countries affected President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
Apple Music and Pandora did not immediately respond to a request for comment if they are making similar moves to take action against any hate music on their platforms.
Article Appeared @http://mashable.com/2017/08/16/spotify-removes-white-supremacy-hate-music/?utm_cid=hp-n-1#5Q_3qwu2diqS