Spotify removes white supremacist bands following Charlottesville violence

Spotify

Leading tech companies are putting measures in place to diminish hate speech

Spotify has taken measures to remove ‘white power’ music from its streaming service, following on from an article published by Digital Music News listing a number of hate bands that were flagged as racist by the Southern Poverty Law Center back in 2014. The article was written in response to the Charlottesville rally on 12 August, during which anti-racism activist Heather Heyer was killed by white nationalist James Fields.

A Spotify spokesperson told Billboard, “Illegal content or material that favours hatred or incites violence against race, religion, sexuality or the like is not tolerated by us. 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, while urgently reviewing the remainder.”

Other tech companies who have also responded to the Charlottesville violence include Apple, Facebook, Google and GoDaddy amongst others, with Apple CEO Tim Cook denouncing neo-Nazis and Trump’s comment that the violence was due to both left and right wing supporters.