Spotify has a smut problem.
People keep uploading nudes and hardcore porn images to the music site — even though it’s against Spotify’s rules.
When The Post conducted several quick Spotify searches for smutty terms on Tuesday, the app displayed several user-generated playlists with pornographic images, including images of topless women and sex acts.
Spotify’s terms of service forbid “pornography or visual depictions of genitalia or nudity presented for the purpose of sexual gratification” — and the site says that it frequently identifies and takes down such content.
But Vice reported on Tuesday that even Spotify searches for periods or commas can turn up filth.
The news outlet spoke to one father whose eight-year-old daughter accidentally came across porn on Spotify after typing in a single period.
“I don’t know what I expected, but it sure wasn’t hardcore porn,” the father said.
In addition to user-uploaded porn images on playlists, Spotify is also awash in so-called “audio porn,” according to Vice. That includes records of users reading erotica or making sounds that are designed to be sexually arousing.
Social media sites like Instagram and TikTok use artificial intelligence to detect and take down porn posts before they spread.
It’s unclear if Spotify uses similar technology, but the company’s CEO Daniel Ek told Reuters in February that the company’s moderation team is a “very big operation” and that the company works with third-party reviewers to crack down on harmful content like hate speech and child abuse.
Spotify did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
“Spotify prohibits content on our platform that contains sexually explicit material,” a company spokesperson told Vice. “When content that violates this standard is identified, it is removed.”
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
