Spotify’s Next Dilemma: Grappling With Hate Speech

At a Spotify employee workshop held in late 2018, participants were presented with a series of statements which they were told came from a podcast on the service, urging violence against the police. The participants were asked if the statements amounted to hate speech and should be removed from Spotify. Most everyone attending agreed they should be taken down.

The session’s leader then revealed the phrases were lyrics taken from a song by legendary California rap group NWA, prompting nervous laughter from the audience, said a person who was present. The episode was a stark reminder of the challenge for online services of figuring out what speech to flag as hateful or offensive and what not to, depending on the context.