Photo Credit: Ashton Bingham
Spotify has announced a new parental guide to help spotlight the company’s focus on youth safety after joining the Tech Coalition.
The Tech Coalition is a trusted organization that united the global tech industry to foster a safer online environment for young people by preventing and combating online child sexual exploitation and abuse. This partnership expands Spotify’s network of trusted third-party experts who advise teams on launch policies and products with safety as a focus.
Some of the key stakeholders who have been helping guide Spotify’s work in this space include Thorn, the WeProtect Global Alliance, and Safety Advisory Council member Alex Holmes. In addition to partnering with these experts across the globe, Spotify says it is focusing on youth safety on the platform in several ways.
The company has established a zero-tolerance policy against content that exploits children by creating platform rules that ban illegal or abusive behaviors that could harm children. It also leverages machine learning signals and has established user reporting mechanisms to detect potential policy or legal violations.
Teams around the clock review and promptly remove potential violating or explicit content. Spotify also offers potentially vulnerable users mental health resources when searching for keywords like suicide, self-harm, and disordered eating.
The new parental guide from Spotify aims to teach families how they can curate an experience that’s right for them. It includes guidance for parents or caregivers, how Spotify creates safe spaces for young people on its platform, and it’s approach to dangerous or deceptive content appearing in the platform. The guide also includes resources to teach parents about Spotify’s explicit content filter, or how to block playback of specific artists on a Spotify Family plan.
The guide also includes guidance on Spotify’s privacy policy, including the ways in which it uses personal data gathered to suggest new content—like discovering new artists and podcasts.
