Spotify takes action against podcasts that promote drug use.

      Phil Nickinson/Digital Trends / Phil Nickinson/Digital Trends

      Spotify has been working to eliminate numerous fake podcasts that led users to websites claiming to sell prescription drugs.

      Recently, CNN and Business Insider highlighted the issue, revealing their separate investigations found approximately 200 podcasts promoting prescription medications.

      According to Business Insider's report, many of these podcasts were less than a minute long and focused more on promoting products than delivering content, including links to sites allegedly selling opioids like Tramadol and Oxycodone.

      CNN reported that some podcasts had titles like My Adderall Store, which included links in the episode descriptions to sites supposedly selling Adderall and potentially addictive pain medications such as Oxycodone and Vicodin, among others, appearing in the top 50 suggested results.

      Although Spotify has removed much of the harmful content, CNN reported on Friday that it was "easily able to find dozens of these fake drug sales podcast pages, including some that had been on the platform for months."

      A spokesperson for the streaming service stated, "We are continually working to detect and eliminate content that violates our policies across our platform."

      Some of the problematic podcasts were only seconds long, featuring a computerized voice promoting medications that could seemingly be purchased with just a few clicks.

      Spotify's community guidelines for creators emphasize that while its goal is to "democratize audio" and be a platform that allows a variety of voices and perspectives to share their stories, it does not mean that anything is permitted on its platform.

      On a separate page called “Spotify Platform Rules,” the service lists forbidden types of content, including "material that illicitly promotes the sale of regulated or illegal goods" such as drugs.

      Digital Trends has reached out to Spotify for an update on its efforts to cleanse its platform of the banned podcasts and will provide an update when a response is received.

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