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Journalism of Courage
A Spotify user who searched for the rapper M.I.A came across a pornographic video on the platform, among other suggested results. The sexually explicit material appeared in the ‘Video’ tab of the search section, according to a screenshot posted by the user on Reddit.
After sifting through dozens of search results on Spotify, The Verge reported that it found other pornographic videos that had been uploaded on the platform. The accounts posting such videos are likely to be podcast accounts that have been publishing erotic audio for years. Some of them reportedly had a long string of alphanumeric characters as their username.
As per Spotify’s platform rules, users should “avoid” uploading content that contains sexually explicit material, including but not limited to “pornography or visual depictions of genitalia or nudity presented for the purpose of sexual gratification” as well as content advocating or glorifying sexual themes related to rape, incest, or beastiality.
Users can also report sexually explicit material but not directly on the platform. The process of reporting such content involves copying the URL of the content and visiting a separate webpage designed for flagging possible violations on Spotify.
The examples of pornographic videos found by The Verge “have been removed due to violation of our policies,” a Spotify spokesperson was quoted as saying.
