Spotify have removed country music and Christian themed music from their playlists just one day after announcing they have partnered with six leftist activist groups including the Southern Poverty Law Center in order to police the platform and remove “hate speech and inappropriate content.”
The groups include the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Color of Change, GLAAD, Showing Up For Racial Justice, Muslim Advocates, and the International Network Against Cyber Hate.
“We love that our platform is home to so much diversity because we believe in openness, tolerance, respect, and freedom of expression, and we want to promote those values through music on our platform,” Spotify announced in a blog post. “However, we do not tolerate hate content on Spotify — content that expressly and principally promotes, advocates, or incites hatred or violence against a group or individual based on characteristics, including, race, religion, gender identity, sex, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, veteran status, or disability.”
It seems country music and Christian themed music violates the international music streaming giant’s new guidelines, with users complaining on forums that country music playlists have been removed and Christian music has been deleted from the platform.
“When we are alerted to content that violates our policy, we may remove it (in consultation with rights holders) or refrain from promoting or playlisting it on our service. It’s important to us that our values are reflected in all the work that we do, whether it’s distribution, promotion, or content creation,” Spotify explained.
While Spotify does not explain exactly what their “values” are, the streaming site’s move into political censorship makes them the latest tech company to display a far-left social agenda.
The decision by Spotify to police the site and remove content deemed “hate speech” mirrors the hugely controversial move by YouTube earlier this year to purge their platform of conservative and “conspiracy” content, while promoting mainstream news channels. YouTube also partnered with leftist activist groups including the SPLC in order to decide what content is appropriate and what constitutes “thought crimes” in 2018.
The SPLC, which has been financially backed by Hollywood actor George Clooney and Apple CEO Tim Cook, has previously listed British Muslim anti-extremist Maajid Nawaz, United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson, and an entire town on its extremist database.