Left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center, which has a reputation for labeling Christian and conservative organizations as “hate groups,” is now policing the world’s largest music streaming service for “hate content.”
Spotify announced their partnership with the SPLC on Thursday, as part of a new policy cracking down on “hate content” and “hateful conduct.”
Spotify defines “hate content” as 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.”
But the rules will be enforced subjectively, Spotify conceded, stating, “it’s important to remember that cultural standards and sensitivities vary widely. That means there will always be content that is acceptable in some circumstances but is offensive in others, and we will always look at the entire context.
The SPLC is known for labeling pedestrian conservative organizations as “hate groups” and calling critics of political correctness “extremists.” The liberal group deleted four articles in March and April alone after challenges to their accuracy.
The SPLC isn’t the only left-wing group policing content on Spotify.
Color of Change, GLAAD and Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) are also among Spotify’s content police. All three groups have previously targeted political opponents on the Right with boycott campaigns.
Color of Change organized boycott campaigns against Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck while they were at Fox News. The group also encouraged Democrats to boycott President Donald Trump’s inauguration. SURJ has organized protests and boycotts of businesses affiliated with Trump. On March 30, GLAAD was promoting a boycott campaign against Fox News host Laura Ingraham over a tweet.
Muslim Advocates, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the International Network Against Cyber Hate also made Spotify’s list of content monitors, which included zero conservative groups.
Spotify’s 70 million subscribers and 140 million total users make it the world’s largest music streaming service, The Telegraph reported on March 6.
Other prominent tech companies have, like Spotify, empowered the SPLC to police their platforms.
The SPLC is one of the groups policing Amazon’s charity program, Amazon Smile. Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) was booted from the program after the SPLC labeled it a “hate group.”
While ADF is banned from Amazon Smile, TheDCNF identified several openly anti-Semitic organizations allowed to take part in the program.
The SPLC also polices YouTube for hateful content, as part of YouTube’s “Trusted Flaggers” program. YouTube kept their partnership with the SPLC hidden behind a confidentiality agreement, before TheDCNF revealed that factin February.
Via BizPAC
