Summary
- Explicit videos were found on Spotify, some appearing in search results disguised as podcast episodes.
- Multiple accounts were found to be exploiting Spotify to distribute NSFW content, bypassing existing content moderation measures and raising questions about their effectiveness.
- While Spotify offers parental controls, their ability to prevent access to improperly categorized NSFW content, such as those disguised as podcasts, is unclear.
Spotify leads the global music streaming market with a 31.7 percent market share, followed by Tencent Music and Apple Music at not-so-close second and third spots with 14.4 and 12.6 percent market shares, respectively.
Stockholm, Sweden-based Spotify’s major lead can largely be attributed to its first-mover advantage when it comes to offering music with a free subscription tier, alongside a vast library of music, offline playback, personalized playlists, cross-device compatibility, and a lot more.
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The platform allows anyone 13 or older to join if they ‘have parent or guardian consent,’ and that is exactly why a recent discovery connected to NSFW content appearing on the platform has ignited serious content moderation concerns.
As highlighted by Reddit user Milk_Steak_Jabroni (NSFW warning if you choose to tap the link), a pornographic video appeared within the suggested search results for the British rapper Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, better known as M.I.A. The Verge later confirmed the existence of several other explicit videos on the platform, all hiding under the veil of being podcast episodes.
The publication also highlighted that it was able to spot other accounts distributing NSFW content on the music streaming platform. One account, which has previously published erotic audio “for years,” recently dabbled with uploading sexually graphic videos, while a different account began uploading similar videos in mid-November this year.
In a statement given to the publication, Spotify indicated that it had taken down the video in question, alongside a few others from accounts. However, how the videos made it past the streaming giant’s content moderation tools is currently unclear — especially considering that the titles on some of these ‘podcast episodes’ aren’t cryptic at all.
Turning on explicit content filters might be a step in the right direction, at least for underage users
It’s important to acknowledge that Spotify does offer parental controls to prevent underage users from viewing such content. However, we’re not entirely sure if those controls help here. Parental controls can prevent explicit songs or podcasts exploring adult topics from appearing in the suggested content or search list. But that’s only if said content has been marked as explicit and if the underage user’s account is part of your family plan.
If the latter is true, you can prevent content marked as explicit from showing up by following these steps:
- Open Spotify on the web.
- Click on the profile icon in the upper-right corner.
- Click Account.
- Select Manage members.
- Select a family member under the section Plan members.
- Toggle on Remove explicit content.
For what it’s worth, Spotify isn’t alone in this mess. YouTube has long had a similar problem with NSFW ads. Even obscene videos targeting children made it onto the Google-owned video streaming platform.
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