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Spotify has removed offensive imagery associated with a controversial song by Christian rapper Tyson James and his 11-year-old son Toby James, following a complaint by GLAAD.
However, the song “Still 2 Genders,” criticized for its transphobic lyrics, continues to be available on the platform. Meanwhile, no changes have been made to Apple Music’s platform.
Earlier this month, The Advocatereported that the song was accessible on major music streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music, despite its derogatory lyrics towards transgender individuals, including a slur to describe them. The situation caught the attention of GLAAD, which then took up the issue with Spotify’s trust and safety team.
In an updated statement provided to The Advocate, a spokesperson from GLAAD emphasized the importance of enforcing hate speech policies by companies.
“Companies have hate speech policies to protect all users from toxic content and especially from content that incites violence against marginalized people. When these policies are violated, it is important to see companies enforce them,” the statement read.
GLAAD’s statement highlighted the grave real-world implications of hateful rhetoric and imagery connecting it to a tragic incident.
“The terrible murder of Lauri Carlton, an ally who had hung a Pride flag outside her store, is connected to a suspect who had an image of a burning Pride flag pinned to his Twitter profile,” the statement added.
The spokesperson further noted, “Rhetoric, images, and targeting of LGBTQ people encourages real-world harms. Companies and brands must continue to recognize their responsibility to people’s safety and public safety and immediately act to avoid facilitating anti-LGBTQ hate and violence.”
Spotify responded by removing the album cover and video imagery that included a burning Progress Pride flag GLAAD noted to The Advocate. Despite these steps, the song itself, carrying an anti-trans slur and dehumanizing transgender people as “demons,” remains live on Spotify’s platform.
Both Spotify and Apple Music have policies in place to moderate content on their platforms. Apple Music for Artists’ terms of service stipulates that all lyrics provided to the platform must be “correct, accurate, and do not contain hate speech.” On the other hand, Spotify’s Dangerous Content policy bars “content that incites violence or hatred towards a person or group of people based on race, religion, gender identity or expression.”
Despite these policies, Apple Music has yet to make any changes or respond to inquiries regarding the song’s availability on its platform.
In a prior response, GLAAD had stressed the digital sphere’s struggle with hate speech moderation, especially concerning anti-LGBTQ+ content, which extends beyond the realm of music streaming platforms. Their concern was not only about the derogatory lyrics but also the inconsistency in enforcing content policies by these platforms, which undermines the safety and inclusivity of all users.
As the scrutiny continues, both Spotify and Apple Music remain unresponsive to multiple inquiries from The Advocate regarding this issue. This scenario underscores a broader discussion concerning digital content moderation on streaming platforms, especially around anti-LGBTQ+ content.
link: https://www.advocate.com/news/spotify-transphobic-song-glaad
archive link: https://archive.ph/tz9FX
I dislike journalism that gives you their conclusions, but not the evidence by which they drew the conclusions. Quoting a single word is not the same as quoting the lyrics and the context around them so that we could either agree with the conclusion or not.
Let people be damned by their own actions and their own words, no need to editorialize evidence.
Here are the actual lyrics https://genius.com/Tyson-james-2-genders-lyrics
Not a great take, not a great song, but where was the slur?
Also no reference to “demons” in these lyrics. Maybe I have the wrong lyrics?
Ah I see where you went wrong. That’s the hit song 2 Genders by Tyson James. What this article is about is the hit song Still 2 Genders by Tyson James.
Thanks for pointing that out! The original article had linked to the lyrics it would have reduced the confusion…
I couldn’t find the lyrics for " still two genders ", but I found the music video on YouTube.
Here’s the video ID, you can put that in the YouTube manually, but I’m not going to link it directly for obvious reasons. Twhftjwdi-k
They did say demons, " all these demons are going to burn for it"
And they did call the president a Pedo.
I didn’t catch everything they said, some of it was a little mumbled, I didn’t catch any other slurs.
It’s not great, these are not good people. It’s like 4chan made a music video. With the same production values. Even talking about them is winning. Any media attention they get is good for them, they’re so tiny.
Oh man, those lyrics are cringe AF.
Yep, just seems like an ordinary rap song to me.
Thank you for posting the actual lyrics. I agree with you, the song is cringe AF, but I don’t see any slurs. A gender critical position is not inherently a derogatory position. The song seems to be arguing for two biological sexes rather than gender (identity) based on its language.
There isn’t one, as far as I can tell. The song is cringe as hell and asinine but I don’t see any slurs.
Is this a religion they’re insulting here? Because the response to it is very reminiscient of how ultra conservative religious people respond to their beliefs being challenged.
Do yourselves a favor and grow a thicker skin, people. It’s just an incredibly stupid joke, and the world will never be rid of incredibly stupid jokes, unfortunately.