Spotify will ban all political advertising in 2020

Music streaming giant admits it doesn’t have ability to ‘responsibly validate’ campaign claims

The ban on political ads also applies to Spotify podcasts (PA)

Spotify is to halt all political advertising on its music streaming platform early next year.

The popular music streaming service admitted it did not have the “robust” tools necessary to scrutinise campaign ads for false or misleading claims.

The company said the pause – which only affects the United States since it’s the only market where political ads have been sold – would extend to Spotify original and exclusive podcasts as well.

It follows a decision by Twitter to ban all political ads, while Google said it would stop giving advertisers the ability to target ads using data such as public voter records and political affiliations.

As the 2020 presidential race heats up, other tech giants – most notably Facebook – are under growing pressure to police misinformation on their platforms.

“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,” a Spotify Technology SA spokeswoman said. “We will reassess this decision as we continue to evolve our capabilities.”

According to Ad Age, which first reported the move, Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders and the Republican National Committee (RNC) have previously advertised on the platform.

Spotify, which has almost 141 million users on its ad-supported platform, has not disclosed how much revenue the company generates from political ads.

Eric Wilson, a Republican digital strategist, said: “Spotify wasn’t a widely used online advertising platform for campaigns before. But as other online platforms restricted their political ad inventory, advertisers were on the hunt for new options.”

The new policy will cover US political groups such as candidates for office, elected officials, political parties, political action committees (PACs) and SuperPACS, as well as content that advocates for or against those groups.

Spotify will no longer sell ads pushing for changes in legislation and judicial outcomes.

The move only applies to Spotify’s ad sales, not advertisements embedded in third-party content, though those will still be subject to Spotify’s broader content policies.

Additional reporting by Reuters