Spotify will Ban Political Advertisements in 2020

Spotify will no longer show political ads in the US from 2020 onwards. The Swedish streaming service announced this on Friday, as other internet giants are also taking measures with a view to the US presidential election.

The measure is because the company does not have sufficient resources to check whether ads contain any disinformation.

“At present, our processes, systems and resources are not yet robust enough to responsibly assess and validate this content,” it says in a statement. “We will review this decision as our capabilities evolve.”

Spotify had 248 million monthly users on September 30, including 113 million subscribers.

Companies are increasingly under pressure to take measures against fake news. Democratic candidates and delegates accuse the companies of providing a platform for politicians who spread untruths.

Facebook does not scrap political ads, even if the messages are misleading or contain lies. The company only gives a warning because it thinks it is not its job to engage in political censorship.

Twitter does prohibit all political advertisements and Google imposes restrictions on ads that are explicitly aimed at specific voters.