Spotify Backtracks on ‘Hate Content’ Music Removal: ‘We Don’t Aim to Play Judge and Jury’

Music streaming service Spotify has backtracked on their initiative to ban “hate content” from the platform, reinstating rapper XXXTentacion and declaring, “We rolled this out wrong.”

“We rolled this out wrong and could have done a much better job,” declared Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. “The whole goal with this was to make sure that we didn’t have hate speech… It was never about punishing one individual artist or even naming one individual artist.” A company blog post added, “That’s not what Spotify is about. We don’t aim to play judge and jury.”

Ek added that the topic of removing “hate content” is a conversation Spotify will “keep on discussing.”

XXXTentacion, who was charged with battery of a pregnant woman, strangulation, and false imprisonment last year, had been removed from playlists on the platform, along with singer R Kelly, who has been accused of grooming underage girls for sex.

This month, it was announced that Spotify had partnered with a number of far-left groups, including the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), to police the content on the platform.

Other groups Spotify partnered with include the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Color of Change, GLAAD, Showing Up For Racial Justice, Muslim Advocates, and the International Network Against Cyber Hate.