Through a public statement, the music company Epitaph Records announced its position regarding the recruitment campaign launched by Donald Trump and the United States government through Spotify’s platform, a tax-funded advertising campaign.
This campaign was carried out through paid ads that you hear or see while browsing the app, seeking people who want to join Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with the goal of toughening public policies regarding migrant repatriation.
“Epitaph joins the independent music community in calling on Spotify to remove its ICE recruitment ads. Artists and their fans deserve platforms that reflect the values of the culture they support. We demand that Spotify remove these ads immediately.”
For its part, Spotify stated that these ads do not violate the platform’s laws, community standards, or privacy policies, so it has no legal reason to remove them. However, they also added that there are tools for users to rate the ads as irrelevant to them.
On the other hand, DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed to Newsweek that they have had a truly successful campaign, with around 150,000 applications reportedly received from people in the United States who responded to the call to defend the homeland.
