Spotify Pulls Episodes of Infowars’ ‘Alex Jones Show’ Podcast

Spotify has deleted select Alex Jones Show episodes after the host announced to listeners earlier this week to tune in to his podcast on the platform, Variety reports. On Wednesday, Spotify removed several of the ultra right-wing conspiracy theorist and Infowars founder’s podcasts following a backlash from Spotify users.

Spotify cited Jones was in violation of its policy that bans hate speech. “We take reports of hate content seriously and review any podcast episode or song that is flagged by our community,” the company said in a statement. “Spotify can confirm it has removed specific episodes of The Alex Jones Show podcast for violating our hate content policy.”

It’s unclear how many episodes were removed or what specific content was in violation of the company’s terms of service among the episodes removed. Though some episodes have been nixed, scores of Jones’ podcasts, dating back to at least June 2017, continue to be offered on Spotify.

Last week, both YouTube and Facebook removed four of Jones’ videos for violating their community standards guidelines. YouTube has banned Infowars from live-streaming for 90 days due to the violation and Facebook suspended Jones from making personal posts. In March, Jones had already earned two “strikes” on YouTube, with the channel’s policy stating that a third strike would lead to Jones’ channel being permanently banned.

In May, Spotify instituted a policy stating that it would not tolerate content that “expressly and principally promotes, advocates or incites hatred or violence” based on personal characteristics like race, religion, sexual orientation and disability. The service removed artists including R. Kelly and XXXtentacion from its official playlists. However, less than a month later, Spotify reversed its stance citing that while its policy against hate was still in place, it would not “play judge and jury” when it comes to artist conduct.

Jones, who has propagated disinformation on a number of topics, has two defamation lawsuits filed against him stemming from his claim that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre did not happen.