Spotify Pulls Radio Show Episodes By InfoWars' Alex Jones After Widespread Complaints
Spotify deleted several episodes of Alex Jones’ radio show, “The Alex Jones Show,” on Wednesday after widespread complaints on social media.
The music streaming platform cited violations of its policy banning hate speech when explaining why the episodes were removed.
“We take reports of hate content seriously and review any podcast episode or song that is flagged by our community,” said a spokeswoman in an email to Variety. “Spotify can confirm it has removed specific episodes of ‘The Alex Jones Show’ podcast for violating our hate content policy.”
The initial backlash appears to have begun on Monday. It makes Spotify one of many sites slammed for allowing Jones on their platforms.
His rhetoric has brought dozens of complaints to Facebook and YouTube. When Jones — a right-wing conspiracy theorist and the founder of the website InfoWars — accused special counsel Robert Mueller of covering up sex crimes and threatened him with death, neither platform did anything about it. Facebook said Jones’ “comments did not violate the company’s community standards as they were not a credible statement of intent to commit violence.” The social media site did, however, suspend Jones’ personal Facebook page this week for four videos that violated its community standards. They have since been removed from the platform.
YouTube didn’t respond to the complaints but also removed four videos Jones had posted on the site.
Spotify was previously offering more than a year’s worth of Jones’ broadcasts, leading many users to say they would cancel their subscriptions. One user said she had spoken to a Spotify customer service representative and was told that if 100 users said the same thing, the company would look into it.
Hey, @Spotify -- I see you've started carrying Alex Jones' hate-filled, foaming mouth podcast on your service. Guess I shall be canceling my subscription. @SpotifyUSA @SpotifyCares
— Eric Trautmann (@mercuryeric) July 30, 2018
I talked to Spotify about how to get Alex Jones' Infowars off their platform. I was advised to make a suggestion. They'll look into it if it gets 100 votes. Please help boost @ruckawriter https://t.co/emahDg28uj
— Cat the Uncivil (@thistlekitty) July 30, 2018
A New York Times report published on Tuesday seems to have invigorated the objections to Jones’ material on Spotify. The piece said he is in the process of “seeking over $100,000 in court costs from the parents of Noah Pozner,” one of the 20 children fatally shot at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. Pozner’s family members have been living in hiding for years since Jones spread false claims that they are crisis actors.
Jones’ lawyer Marc Randazza disputed the claims made in the Times report, telling HuffPost that he’s “disappointed” in the paper and that he is “unable to find anywhere” in the motion “any support for that statement at all.” He also said that he believes that the quotes the Times attributed to Jones “appear to be fabricated.”
Despite Randazza’s assessment, the Times report has had Twitter users from actor Don Cheadle to journalist Soledad O’Brien tagging Spotify in their posts to ring the alarm.
@Spotify, come get your man ... https://t.co/EygNy7yrkp
— Don Cheadle (@DonCheadle) August 1, 2018
CC: @spotify https://t.co/smoMtAJ0BW
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) August 1, 2018
@Spotify shame on you for allowing this hate-fueled garbage on your service. These people’s children died and you’re handing Alex Jones a microphone to he can call those dead babies crisis actors even more loudly.
Jones goes or we go. Choose carefully. https://t.co/3lUN84IB4A— Jen Hansen (@jenhansen31) August 1, 2018
You seem to keep good company @Spotify (not). https://t.co/9Wf41TZaa1
— Fredrik Andersson (@LFAndersson) August 1, 2018
hey @Spotify you host this vicious maniac's podcasts, don't you? https://t.co/MTU3dJ1e37
— Sarah Phelps (@PhelpsieSarah) August 1, 2018
.@spotify carries Alex Jones.
If you're a subscriber, maybe now would be a good time to let Spotify know how you feel about your subscription dollars subsidizing this piece of human garbage. https://t.co/eCkXQYFW7O— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) August 1, 2018
No one should have to go through what his victims go through, and I don’t see why @facebook, @Spotify and @YouTube shouldn’t be made to pay damages too. https://t.co/rXWlmEjEp5
— Alexander Chee (@alexanderchee) August 1, 2018
@Spotify Do you really want a business relationship with THIS guy??? https://t.co/GwJ8a2tSfv
— Timothy Darby (@ConstantTim) August 1, 2018
Hey @Spotify & @Amazon: when you read news like this, do you worry that carrying Alex Jones' InfoWars brand will damage your own? https://t.co/COlF2aJtFq
— Shannon Coulter (@shannoncoulter) August 1, 2018
Spotify did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
This story has been updated.
Clarification: The headline on this article has been amended to clarify that Spotify did not pull Jones’ entire show.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.