Spotify acquires harmful content detection specialist Kinzen | Photo credits: Nyse Community manager
by Dawn Chmielewski
Oct 5 (Reuters) – Audio streaming service Spotify Technology on Wednesday announced the acquisition of Kinzen, which has previously worked with the platform to detect harmful content.
The acquisition is part of Spotify’s efforts to tackle harmful content on its platform, following an outcry earlier this year over ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’, which was accused of spreading false information about COVID-19.
Dublin-based company Kinzen started working with Spotify in 2020, initially to ensure the integrity of election-related content. Since then, its role has evolved to include targeting misinformation and hate speech.
“Kinzen offers a range of tools and expertise to help us better understand the content on our platform and emerging abuse trends,” said Sarah Hoyle, Spotify’s Head of Trust and Safety.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Earlier this year, Spotify said it wanted to be more transparent in its determination of eligible and ineligible content. The company thus published the rules of its platform for the first time in January. In June, it formed a Security Advisory Council to provide information on harmful content.
Kinzen will provide early warnings about issues in different markets, helping Spotify more effectively moderate content in more languages. (Reporting Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; French version Dagmarah Mackos, editing by Kate Entringer)