Spotify removes 'white power' music from its service

Music streaming service Spotify has taken steps to remove bands flagged by the Southern Poverty Law Center as "white power" music in the wake of the Charlottesville tragedy. Spotify's move follows a post on Digital Music News identifying 37 bands named by the SPLC in 2014 in a campaign to have them removed from iTunes.

According to Billboard, Spotify has removed some of the bands, and is in the process of reviewing others. It did not clarify which of the bands it had removed.

"Illegal content or material that favors hatred or incites violence against race, religion, sexuality or the like is not tolerated by us," a Spotify spokesperson said.

"Spotify takes immediate action to remove any such material as soon as it has been brought to our attention. We are glad to have been alerted to this content -- and have already removed many of the bands identified today, whilst urgently reviewing the remainder."

Another streaming service, Deezer, is also acting to remove these bands. In an emailed statement, a spokesperson said, "Deezer does not condone any type of discrimination or form of hate against individuals or groups because of their race, religion, gender, or sexuality. We are in the process of swiftly and actively reviewing the content on our platform and have begun and will continue to remove any material that is in any way connected to any white supremacist movement or belief system."

Others in the tech industry have taken action in the wake of the Charlottesville rally. Reddit and Facebook have each banned entire hate groups from their sites and several tech leaders have resigned from serving on advisory boards for President Donald Trump.

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