Spotify Forms Safety Advisory Council
Spotify Technology SA announced the launch of a Safety Advisory Council to provide third-party feedback on topics such as hate speech, disinformation, extremism, and online abuse.
The organization is another step in Spotify’s efforts to combat harmful content on its audio streaming service, following criticism earlier this year for ‘The Joe Rogan Experience,’ in which the podcaster was accused of spreading misinformation about Covid-19.
The 18-member expert panel, which includes representatives from the Center for Democracy & Technology in Washington, D.C., the University of Gothenburg in Germany, and the Institute for Technology and Society in Brazil, will advise Spotify as it develops products and policies and considers emerging issues.
Dustee Jenkins, Spotify’s global head of public affairs said in a statement that the objective is to bring in these world-renowned specialists, many of whom have been in this sector for many years, in order to establish a connection with them. And to ensure that we’re not talking to them in the midst of a crisis… Instead, we’re engaging with them on a regular basis so that we can be much more proactive in how we approach these challenges across the firm.
Spotify can accept or reject the council’s advice. Unlike Facebook’s oversight board, which chooses which cases to review, Spotify’s council will submit matters for consideration and feedback.
Spotify’s head of trust and safety, Sarah Hoyle, said the advisory council was founded not in response to “any particular creator or situation,” but rather in the awareness of the challenges of running a global service at a time when challenges are continuously developing.
“How do we augment the internal expertise that we already have at Spotify, to tap into these folks whose life’s work has been studying this, and they’re on the ground in markets all around the world, just like our users, just like our creators,” said Hoyle.
Originally published at https://cxotv.techplusmedia.com on June 14, 2022.