Spotify is scrambling to remove dozens of podcasts promoting online prescription drug sales
CNN
Spotify is scrambling to remove fake podcast pages that direct users to buy drugs from potentially dangerous and illegal online pharmacies. CNN identified dozens of these phony podcasts across Spotify, which violate its rules, and at best, may be spam and, and worst, could direct users to sites that violate the law.
If you search “Adderall” on Spotify’s podcast page, you’ll find health podcasts about ADHD, shows about addiction recovery and comedy podcasts where hosts talk about using the medication. You may also come across multiple pages masquerading as podcasts that direct users to buy drugs from potentially dangerous and illegal online pharmacies. The intention of many of these pages is obvious from their names. Podcasts with titles, such as “My Adderall Store” — which has a link in the episode description to a site that purportedly sells Adderall, as well as potentially addictive pain medications like Oxycodone and Vicodin, among other drugs — were listed within the first 50 suggested results, a CNN review this week found. CNN identified dozens of these fake podcasts across Spotify, advertising sales of medications ranging from Methadone to Ambien, in some cases claiming that the drugs can be purchased without a prescription, which is illegal in the United States. Spotify is now scrambling to remove these fake podcast pages, which violate its rules and which, at best, may be spam and, and worst, could direct users to sites that violate the law. Within hours after CNN sent Spotify a list of 26 podcasts promoting online pharmacies that were live as of Thursday afternoon, the platform had removed them. A spokesperson said they violated its rules, which prohibit illegal and spam content. Still, even after Spotify removed the podcasts CNN sent on Thursday, others continued to appear on the platform Friday morning. “We are constantly working to detect and remove violating content across our service,” a Spotify spokesperson told CNN in a statement.
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