Tag: Spotify

The Advertising Industry’s Deepening Role in Online Censorship

Foundation for Freedom Online
X User

In the arsenal of the censorship-industrial complex, few weapons have been more effective than advertiser boycotts. Long before online censorship reached its peak in 2020 and 2021, advocates of online censorship had identified online advertisers as the most important source of pressure on social media companies to restrict free speech. When direct appeals to social media platforms fail, pro-censorship campaigners use the threat of advertiser boycotts to produce the desired result.

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Spotify Announces Hundreds Cut from Workforce

Admin

Audio streaming platform Spotify is laying off 6% of its staff, becoming the latest in a series of tech firms to make major cuts, the company announced Monday.

The cuts come less than a week after Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet both laid off more than 10,000 employees each as Big Tech firms cut costs following pandemic-related spending sprees. Spotify had roughly 9,800 employees through September 2022, so the company will likely cut less than 600 staffers Monday, according to Reuters.

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Largest Owner of Spotify Stock Also Largest Owner of Moderna Stock

Peter D'Abrosca

Amid the controversy over world-famous Spotify podcaster Joe Rogan hosting guest Dr. Robert Malone, credited with inventing mRNA vaccine technology that is used in COVID-19 vaccines, Malone revealed information about a massive conflict of interest. 

On an episode of Tucker Carlson Today that aired Wednesday, Malone revealed that the largest stakeholder in Spotify, which has been under pressure to censor Rogan for spreading “misinformation” about COVID-19, is also the largest stakeholder in Moderna, one of the two companies distributing mRNA vaccines for COVID-19.

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Rumble Offers Joe Rogan $100 Million to Use Their Platform Amid Spotify Controversy

Peter D'Abrosca

Amid controversy over podcaster Joe Rogan’s controversial COVID-19 episodes and some past episodes that contained racial slurs, one video streaming platform is lending Rogan their support. 

“We stand with you, your guests, and you legion of fans in desire for real conversation,” Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski said in a letter addressed to Rogan. “So we’d like to offer you 100 million reasons to make the world a better place.”

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Virginia Among 37 States Suing Google

Eric Burk

Virginia is one of 37 states suing Google for alleged anti-competitive and unfair business practices, Attorney General Mark Herring announced Wednesday.

“Google has really become a major player in the tech market, so much so that its products play a role in almost every aspect of Virginians’ daily lives, including their cell phones and the apps that they use on a regular basis,” Herring said in a press release.

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Facebook’s Software Kit to Blame for Popular Apps Crashing

The Associated Press

Friday’s widespread crashes of popular apps running on the iPhone’s iOS operating system — including Tinder, Spotify and Pinterest — serve as a reminder that Facebook is still tracking you through your phone using sophisticated software, even if you’re not browsing the social network.

Early Friday, users of the apps reported crashes when they tried to open them up. Facebook attributed the problem, which was quickly fixed, to a bug in its software development kit, or SDK, a tool developers use to integrate their apps with Facebook.

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iPhone Sales Falling, and Apple’s App Fees Might Be Next

Admin

As iPhone sales slip, Apple has been positioning its booming digital-services business as its new profit engine. But there could be a snag in that plan. A brewing backlash against the rich commissions Apple earns from all purchases and subscriptions made via iPhone apps could undercut the app store, which generates about a third of the company’s services revenue. Late last year, Netflix rebelled against Apple’s fees, which can range from 15 percent to 30 percent. Analysts fear other companies may follow. And attorneys representing consumers in a pending Supreme Court case charge that Apple is an unfair monopolist in the market for iPhone apps. An adverse decision, in that case, could open a legal door that might eventually force Apple to cut its generous commissions. Apple shares have plunged 25 percent from their peak in early October thanks to concern over iPhone sales. Investors are now hanging onto Apple services as a “life preserver in the choppy seas” just as it’s about to float away, Macquarie Securities analyst Benjamin Schachter concluded after the Netflix move. These app-store fees mostly hit app developers themselves, although some pass along the costs to users of their iPhone apps. Spotify, for instance, used…

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Spotify Removes All PragerU Content as Conservatives Claim Censorship

Admin

by Chris White   Music-streaming platform Spotify removed PragerU’s advertisements from its platform, noting that the content does not comply with the company’s editorial policies, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned. “Our policy team has re-reviewed the ads that you have submitted through Ad Studio and determined that the content of the ads do not comply with our editorial policies,” Spotify noted in an email to PragerU. TheDCNF has seen a copy of the email, which also alludes to other noncompliance issues. “Our policy team has made the decision to stop all existing ads and not approve new ads coming through in the future. Please let us know if you have any questions or require further clarification,” the email adds. Most of the ads are tame and direct listeners to click on the conservative group’s website to learn more about “intersectionality” and other social issues. PragerU frequently complains about censorship on YouTube and other social media platforms. The group filed a lawsuit in 2017 against Google and Google-owned YouTube, alleging unlawful censorship. “Every day, PragerU is changing culture with online content that teaches the values that make America the freest and most prosperous nation on earth. Millions of Americans…

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