Spotify Forms Advisory Council to Combat Harmful Content | Photo credits: George Dolgikh / Shutterstock.com
by Dawn Chmielewski
June 13 (Reuters) – Spotify Technology SA announced on Monday the creation of an advisory council to advise on issues including hate speech, misinformation, extremism and online abuse.
This is another step in Spotify’s fight against harmful content, as ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’, accused of spreading false information about COVID-19, has drawn heavy criticism from the Swedish giant.
The group of 18 experts, which includes members of the Center for Democracy & Technology in Washington, the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and the Institute for Technology and Society in Brazil, will advise Spotify in the development of its products and of its policies as well as in its reflection on the problems to come.
“The idea is to bring in these world-renowned experts, many of whom have been in this field for several years,” said Dustee Jenkins, Spotify’s PR manager.
“To make sure that we don’t just talk to them when we find ourselves in a (problematic) situation. On the contrary, we meet with them quite regularly, in order to be much more proactive about how we think about these issues throughout the company.”
The advice is purely advisory, and Spotify may accept or reject its advice. Unlike Facebook’s supervisory board, which decides for itself what it reviews, Spotify will submit its questions to its board.
Sarah Hoyle, trust and safety officer at Spotify, said the advisory board was not formed in response to any particular situation. (Reporting Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles)