Spotify confirmed porn movies in search outcomes for some well-liked artists

A Reddit consumer posted a screenshot in a single day of a Spotify search that introduced a shock: a pornographic video tucked into instructed outcomes for the rapper M.I.A. Right here’s a NSFW hyperlink to the thread. The video proven of their screenshot didn’t seem for us, however we discovered others after scrolling via dozens of ends in the “Video” tab.

One of many accounts that posted movies we noticed has printed erotic audio for years however has sprinkled in sexually graphic movies extra just lately. One other account, which was named with a protracted string of alphanumeric characters, has been publishing equally nonsensically-titled express movies as a podcast account since mid-November.

Spotify consultant Laura Batey informed The Verge in an e mail that the examples we supplied “have been eliminated as a consequence of violation of our insurance policies.” These insurance policies embrace forbidding sexually express materials. We requested Spotify for extra info on how the movies made it previous its moderation and can replace right here if it responds.

The movies we discovered look like unmoderated podcast uploads, and reporting them isn’t very handy. The Spotify app lacks a button for doing so — as a substitute, customers have to repeat the content material’s URL and head to a webpage for reporting potential violations.