Drug Sites Hijacked Spotify’s Search Ranking Through Fake Podcasts

A report by Senator Maggie Hassan alleges Spotify quietly removed more than 57,000 podcast episodes and 3,000 shows that promoted illegal online pharmacies selling opioids, benzodiazepines, stimulants and other drugs without prescriptions. The committee criticizes Spotify for acting only after media scrutiny, taking limited action against accounts in prior years, and not proactively reporting the activity to law enforcement; Spotify says it reports only imminent threats and changed its tracking methods.