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After the backlash Facebook faced about political advertisements and alleged misleading information during the 2016 presidential election, Spotify has decided to play it safe. The music streaming giant announced they will be barring political advertisements from airing on its platform in 2020.
According to a report from AdAge, Spotify released a statement citing their reason for the removal of political ads. According to a representative, the company doesn’t think they have the necessary technology to screen for misinformation in political content.
“Beginning in early 2020, Spotify will pause the selling of political advertising,” the statement reads. “This will include political advertising content in our ad-supported tier and in Spotify original and exclusive podcasts. At this point in time, we do not yet have the necessary level of robustness in our processes, systems and tools to responsibly validate and review this content.”
But while political ads won’t appear on the platform in the new year, they could in the future. “We will reassess this decision as we continue to evolve our capabilities,” the official statement concludes. According to the same report, both Bernie Sanders and the Republican National Committee have paid for ads on Spotify in the recent past.
Spotify isn’t the first media company to make this decision. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced the social media platform began marking paid political content in November. Google made a similar move, saying they will no longer allow micro-targeting of ads based on political affiliation or voting records, emphasizing their policy bans advertisers from making false or misleading claims.
Written by: Uproxx
