The prominent streaming platform Spotify has taken down some podcast episodes posted by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his media outlet InfoWars, according to various reports.
Which episodes were deleted and how many were deleted in total was not specified.
The move comes on the heels of Facebook and YouTube removing a total of eight videos posted by InfoWars.
Soon after Facebook and YouTube took action on Jones’ content, he pointed his fans toward Spotify, telling them they could still listen to the entirety of his podcasts there, only to have Spotify take similar action.
I don't love that @Spotify is taking the strategy of removing episodes of InfoWars shows instead of simply booting it / Alex Jones off their platform. Why doesn't his track record of abuse prompt tech companies simply to refrain from having *any* relationship with him?
— Shannon Coulter (@shannoncoulter) August 1, 2018
In a statement to NPR, Spotify cited “hate content” as the reason for the removal.
“We take reports of hate content seriously and review any podcast episode or song that is flagged by our community,” the statement read. “Spotify can confirm it has removed specific episodes of ‘The Alex Jones Show’ podcast for violating our hate content policy.”
From NPR:
Spotify experienced a rocky rollout of its hate content policy in May, when it began pulling certain artists, including R&B singer R. Kelly and the late rapper XXXTentacion, from its playlists and algorithmic recommendations before readdressing that position. In June, the site published a note to users about the policy, saying: “While we believe our intentions were good, the language was too vague, we created confusion and concern… As some have pointed out, this language was vague and left too many elements open to interpretation.”
Spotify still received some criticism for not removing all of Jones’ content.
“It’s laughable,” said one person said on Twitter. “I still see 613 episodes online and available!” said another.
In the past, Jones has falsely claimed that the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting was a “false flag” and that its victims were “crisis actors.” He also made similar claims about the shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school earlier this year.
Jones has been praised by President Trump, who gave him an interview in 2017.
Featured image via YouTube
