Spotify has deleted several episodes of “The Alex Jones Show” podcast after it violated the company’s hate content policy.
“We take reports of hate content seriously and review any podcast episode or song that is flagged by our community,” a Spotify spokesperson said in a statement. “Spotify can confirm it has removed specific episodes of ‘The Alex Jones Show’ podcast for violating our hate content policy.”
The streaming giant declined to share how many episodes were deleted, or what Jones said specifically to violate its policies. Spotify has said it “does not permit content whose principal purpose is to incite hatred or violence against people because of their race, religion, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation.” The New York Times was first to report particular Jones episodes were being deleted.
Spotify had been under increasing pressure online to remove Jones from its platform. A flood of tweets this week called on the company to banish the podcast — with many pointing to a petition calling for its removal on Spotify’s community website. “I will go back to CDs,” one Spotify user warned on Twitter.
The controversial host — known for peddling conspiracy theories, including calling the Sandy Hook school shooting a “hoax” — has increasingly found himself in the crosshairs of big tech. His Facebook account was hit with a 30-day suspension last week for “bullying” and “hate speech,” soon after YouTube booted four of his videos and hit his account with a strike.
The videos appeared to be standard InfoWars fare. One showed a grown man pushing a young child to the ground and joked about “liberalism.” Another cautioned that transgender individuals are Satanic. A third warned of Muslim migrants taking over Europe.
“The dying dinosaur of corporate media is frothing and champing at the bit to set a precedent to ban independent or alternative media,” Jones told TheWrap by phone last week. “Once one domino falls, they all begin to fall. The first amendment is under assault.”