The Southern Poverty Law Center may not be an organization that many people have heard about, but they're doing some great work. The group is dedicated to fighting against racism and bigotry in America. While it's sad that such an organization is still needed in today's world, at the very least, these people are doing some incredible work and getting the word out.
Recently, the SPLC released their "Intelligence Report," a document that listed a number of popular racist and White supremacist artists who were gaining popularity through digital distribution. It's surprising to learn that services like iTunes and Amazon carried such music, but it's true. Entire communities had begun to form, and digital services were quickly becoming a new hub for racist artists.
Thankfully, Apple has stepped up: the company recently cleaned out a number of different artists from the report, and while not all of the music has been removed, the vast majority has been. It's a good thing, too because iTunes' automated tools recommend music based on listening history, meaning that the racist artists were basically promoting each other without having to do anything. Heidi Beirich of the SPLC stated that "Apple is doing the right thing by preventing iTunes from being used as a recruitment tool for white supremacists."
Unfortunately, while Apple has been quick to react and remove the artists in question from its services, Amazon and Spotify have been slow to keep up. While iTunes was the focus of the original report, Apple's service is nearly clean as of this writing, but both Amazon and Spotify have yet to remove any of the music from its library.
According to a statement from Spotify, the service uses a German filter for its content alongside a user-based reporting system, which clearly isn't getting the job done. Amazon, on the other hand, has stated that any content that it deems offensive will be removed, though there's no telling how long it will take to have the offending content taken down.
Again, it's sad that this sort of thing still happens in this day and age, but at the very least, Apple stepped up to the plate. It may not be completely gone just yet, but the music library's racist selection is close to being erased forever.
