Spotify been clearing its platform of numerous fake podcasts that directed users to websites purporting to sell drugs without a prescription.
The issue was brought to light in recent days by CNN and Business Insider, whose separate investigations discovered some 200 podcasts peddling prescription medicines.
Many of the podcasts “were under a minute long and are less about content and more about pushing product, providing links to websites claiming to sell opioids like Tramadol and Oxycodone,” Business Insider said in its report.
In its own report, CNN said: “Podcasts with titles such as My Adderall Store — which has a link in the episode description to a site that purportedly sells Adderall, as well as potentially addictive pain medications like Oxycodone and Vicodin, among other drugs — were listed within the first 50 suggested results.”
While Spotify has removed much of the offending content, CNN claimed on Friday that it was “easily able to find dozens of these fake, drug sales podcast pages, including some that had been posted on the platform for months.”
In a widely reported statement, a spokesperson for the streaming giant said: “We are constantly working to detect and remove violating content across our service.”
Some of the offending podcasts lasted only a matter of seconds and featured a computerized voice advertising medication that could apparently be purchased in a few clicks.
In its community guidelines for creators, Spotify says that while its mission “is to democratize audio” and to “be a platform that enables a diverse range of voices and perspectives to share their stories with the world … that doesn’t mean anything goes on our platform.”
On another page titled “Spotify Platform Rules,” it lists examples of material that’s banned from the streaming service, including “content that illicitly promotes the sale of regulated or illegal goods” such as drugs.
Tech Reader has reached out to Spotify for an update on its effort to purge its platform of the prohibited podcasts and we will update this article when we hear back.
