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Probe reveals extent of hate material hosted by music streaming services

Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music have since removed the content

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Leading music streaming services were littered with antisemitic songs, a BBC Newsbeat investigation has revealed. 

BBC Newsbeat reported on Friday it had found “racist, antisemitic and homophobic content” on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music, which have since been taken down.

Deezer told the JC it had removed all the tracks and artists flagged during the investigation. A spokesperson for the platform said "Deezer does not condone hate or discrimination and has a process in place to deal with these issues."

BBC Newsbeat said its investigation led to the discovery of at least 20 songs and the process involved “no specialist skills or effort."

Tracks reportedly contained lyrics praising “Aryan nations”, featuring antisemitic language and in some cases “celebrating” the Shoah. 

A spokesperson for Spotify told the JC on Friday the “content in question has been removed for violating our Hate Content policy.”

The company also said it prohibits material “which expressly and principally advocates or incites hatred or violence against a group or individual based on characteristics.”

Characteristics include “race, religion, gender identity, sex, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, veteran status, or disability,” it said.

The firm also said more than 65 million songs and over 1.5 million podcasts are available on its platform.

Apple Music said it had hidden the majority of tracks flagged by BBC Newsbeat, while the remainder are being investigated. 

Its style guide “prohibits Nazi Propaganda and objectionable, offensive, unlawful, deceptive, inaccurate, or harmful content.”

A YouTube spokesperson told the JC: “To fight the spread of this harmful content and protect our community, we’ve worked hard to develop responsible guidelines to define and make clear what content is unacceptable or when artistic expression crosses the lines of safety.

"When content is flagged to us, we work quickly to remove videos that violate our policies. We’re committed to continuing our work on this issue to ensure YouTube is not a place for those who seek to do harm.”

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