Music streaming giant Spotify is confronting the threat of multi-million-dollar fines for failing to protect West Australian children from hardcore pornographic videos circulating on its platform, a PerthNow investigation can reveal.
Parents Oblivious to Platform Loophole
Parents across Western Australia remain largely unaware that their children can access explicit material through a significant loophole in Spotify's system. The problem involves users uploading sexually graphic short videos as "clips" attached to podcast episodes. These videos are then served to unsuspecting young listeners through Spotify's algorithm and autoplay functions.
This disturbing subculture actively exploits weaknesses in the platform's content moderation. One personal account revealed how a daughter was exposed to this content, highlighting the very real and immediate danger to Australian families.
eSafety Commissioner Issues Stern Warning
An eSafety Commissioner spokesperson confirmed that Spotify has a legal obligation under the Online Safety Act to protect Australians, especially children, from seriously harmful online material. The regulator issued a stark warning about upcoming enforcement measures.
"A second tranche of the Act that aimed to 'protect and prevent children from accessing or being exposed to age-inappropriate material online, including material like online pornography', will comes into force in March," the spokesperson stated.
The spokesperson explicitly confirmed that breaches could result in penalties as high as $49.5 million. These new codes and standards will apply to eight sectors of the online industry, explicitly covering music streaming apps like Spotify.
Explicit Content Proliferates Despite Policies
Despite Spotify's own rules prohibiting "pornography or visual depictions of genitalia or nudity presented for the purpose of sexual gratification," accounts like Potato’s Dungeon 2.0 were found hosting several graphic sexual videos.
Searches on the platform uncovered other accounts uploading similar pornographic content, which is often aggregated into playlists by users known as "podfinders." The explicit nature of these podcasts and playlists is often thinly disguised by replacing the word "porn" with "corn" or through the use of suggestive emojis.
The comments section on each video episode serves as a communication hub for thousands of users, who share tips on finding other explicit accounts or make requests for specific types of pornographic content.
Spotify's Response and a Whack-a-Mole Problem
A Spotify spokesperson stated that most content on the platform is officially licensed and that explicit videos are not permitted. "We enforce this policy using a combination of automated detection tools, user reports, and human review," the spokesperson said.
In the case of Potato’s Dungeon 2.0, which was reported via Spotify's online form, the content was removed within 24 hours. However, this action proved to be a temporary fix. Potato’s Dungeon 3.0 appeared the following day, illustrating a persistent whack-a-mole problem with this type of content.
Spotify claims its "systems and processes worked as designed," allowing for quick removal of violative content. The company also stated it continually refines its policies through partnerships with external experts like Project Rockit.
This issue is not new to Spotify. Last year, US tech news outlet The Verge raised similar concerns, noting that some accounts have been publishing erotic audio for years but have recently begun sprinkling in sexually graphic videos.
