For several years now, Spotify has diversified its audio offerings. In addition to music, the platform provides access to thousands of podcasts, and even audiobooks. However, while the company's catalog is expanding, it also has to deal with a persistent problem: the presence of pornographic content.
Porn videos are a hit on Spotify
Spotify's strategy of integrating videos into its platform, initially designed for audio streaming, has created a major flaw in its system. Sexually explicit content is now appearing among the most popular podcasts, reaching the top of the charts in several categories. These pornographic videos are found nestled between more traditional shows, and affect all content categories. Even more worrying, they are finding themselves at the top of the daily charts, attracting a considerable number of visitors right under the noses of Spotify's moderation systems.
If the process sounds familiar, it's because Spotify isn't the first platform to experience this wave of pornography. Amazon Kindle is facing the same issues, while Instagram, despite Its increasingly strict moderation still allows a large number of sexually explicit videos to pass. Even without videos, some accounts have been posting erotic audio content for years, sometimes encouraging listeners to give poor ratings to stay under the radar of moderation algorithms.
Spotify Has a Moderation Problem
Beyond the problem, Spotify's lack of an effective reporting system makes the situation worse. The platform doesn't offer a dedicated button, forcing users to manually copy the link to the problematic content to report it via a specific page. Even after a report, the platform simply removes problematic content, without taking any precautions. A Spotify spokesperson clarified that these shows are not monetized through the Spotify Partner Program or through advertising.
The situation is particularly problematic for younger users. Many user testimonies report that their children have been exposed to this inappropriate content, which is masturbatory, or directly addresses sexual issues. Furthermore, it is impossible to filter NSFW content. A problem that is not new, since in 2022, the American site Vice had already reported the presence of audio content of a sexual nature. On paper, Spotify prohibits “sexually explicit content“, including pornography or images of nudity for the purpose of sexual gratification. A principle that seems difficult to enforce in practice.
Unlike Unlike platforms like YouTube Music, which benefits from the moderation experience of its parent company, Spotify still seems to be fumbling with the implementation of an effective filtering system for these new formats.
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