jugendschutz.net-ReportSpotify does not adequately protect children and young people from dangerous content

With over 696 million active users, Spotify is one of the most used music and podcast platforms in the world. Spotify is also popular with children and young people in Germany. According to the JIM Study 2024 , 85% of young people use a music streaming service and spend an average of around two hours a day there. For 13% of young people, Spotify is even one of the most important apps of all. The fact that the recommendation algorithm adapts music suggestions to individual musical tastes certainly plays a relevant role here. In addition, creating and sharing playlists enables networking with other Spotify users.

What dangerous and illegal content is available on Spotify?

Spotify's recommendation algorithm not only has advantages, but also poses considerable risks for children and young people. This is because suggestions can bring them into contact with problematic or even illegal content, even if they are not actively looking for it.

For example, jugendschutz.net found songs by right-wing extremist artists or AI-generated music with anti-democratic content during its research on Spotify. Banned (Nazi) slogans, calls for violence and glorification of right-wing terrorists appear in user names and playlists.

In addition, numerous songs contain explicit descriptions of violence. Some playlist images show fictitious scenes of violence. This content glorifying violence can also be accessed as lyrics via the function to display song lyrics.

jugendschutz.net was also able to find descriptions of sexual violence against children during its research on Spotify. Explicit descriptions of acts of abuse were found in individual song lyrics, while playlist and user names also contained references to the glorification and trivialization of sexual violence against children.

In addition to extremist, violent and sexualized content, there are also playlists on Spotify that glorify suicide, self-harm, drug use or eating disorders. This is done, for example, through images uploaded by users or through song lyrics that glorify these topics.

Comic-style pornographic images could be found in both playlist and profile pictures. A large number of erotic audio books and album covers with violent pornography were also found.

What measures does Spotify take to protect children and young people?

According to the General Terms of Use, users must be at least 18 years old to use Spotify. Persons aged 16 and over may use Spotify provided they have the consent of a parent or guardian. However, Spotify does not check the age or review the declaration of consent.

After registration, users have access to all available content on Spotify. This also includes content that has been marked as potentially inappropriate for children and young people with "E" or "Explicit". Although such content can be hidden or certain artists blocked via the settings, this filter function remains limited.

In addition, parents only have the option to hide inappropriate songs or create a Spotify Kids account via the paid premium subscription. At the time of research, the price for this subscription was 17.99 euros per month. This means that measures to protect children and young people are considerably restricted and only available to people who can spend over 200 euros a year.

Spotify's reporting options are particularly poor. Spotify creates unnecessary hurdles in the reporting system, for example by requiring users to retrieve a code by e-mail or pausing the reporting option after three reports. There is a strong impression that Spotify deliberately makes it more difficult to report illegal content and puts obstacles in the way of those reporting it, as jugendschutz.net also found after its research.

Once a report has been successfully completed, the next problem immediately becomes apparent: In the course of its research, jugendschutz.net reported 78 infringements (including incitement to hatred, pornography and obvious serious harm to minors) to Spotify. After one week, Spotify had removed less than half of the infringements. Even after jugendschutz.net officially identified itself as the reporting body, only one more piece of content was removed.

What protective measures can help?

jugendschutz.net emphasizes that better protection of children and young people on Spotify would be easy for the provider to implement. A functioning and easy-to-use reporting system would be a first step. In addition, there should be stricter labeling of explicit content and the app should be preset by default to hide such content. Ideally, all content should be classified to enable age-specific restrictions.

How can you help your child to use Spotify more safely?

• Remember that according to the General Terms of Use in Germany, Spotify may only be used from the age of 16 at the earliest.
• Inform your child about possible dangers and risks.
• Keep in touch with your child: ask what content your child is exposed to and be available to answer questions.
• If necessary, hide inappropriate content (songs marked "Explicit" or "E") in the settings.
• Consider whether a paid Spotify Premium Family subscription is an option for you and your family.
• Report inappropriate content directly to Spotify or via jugendschutz.net/verstoss-melden.