Spotify removed 57,000 fake podcast episodes promoting illegal drugs, but only after a senator forced its hand
TL;DR
Spotify removed 57,000 fake podcast episodes tied to illegal drug sales after a US Senate probe, but acted only after media pressure exposed the problem.
Spotify has removed more than 57,000 fake podcast episodes and banned 3,500 accounts tied to illegal drug promotion after a US Senate investigation exposed the scale of the problem. The episodes, spread across more than 3,000 shows, used AI-generated audio to direct listeners to websites selling modafinil, opioids, and cryptocurrency on unregulated marketplaces. Senator Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire, led the congressional inquiry that forced the platform to act.
The numbers are damning not for their size but for the timeline. In all of 2024, Spotify actioned just 87 accounts for similar violations. The surge to 3,500 bans in 2025 came only after CNN published an investigation in May documenting the drug-spam pipeline in detail. One podcast identified by CNN linked directly...
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