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‘Targets religious values’: Turkey official seeks legal action against Spotify
Turkey's antitrust board is investigating Spotify for potential competition violations, even as the streaming platform asserts its commitment to Turkish laws.
A Turkish official called for legal action against Spotify Technologies SA, saying the streaming service’s content isn’t in accord with the nation’s cultural and moral values.
“Spotify, despite all our previous warnings, insists on not taking steps to fix content that targets our religious and national values,” Batuhan Mumcu, Turkey’s deputy minister of Culture and Tourism, said in a post on X on Friday. “It’s insulting our society’s beliefs, while ignoring the rights of our artists.”
Turkey’s antitrust board on Friday opened an investigation to assess whether the Stockholm-based company violates competition in the music industry through its strategies and policies in Turkey, according to a statement on the Competition Board’s website.
In a statement, Spotify said it has a “clear” commitment to both Turkey and its laws.
“We are cooperating with the investigation, are actively seeking to understand it, and will work toward a swift, constructive resolution,” a company spokesperson said.
Earlier this week, Turkey arrested four employees of satirical magazine LeMan on charges of inciting the public to hatred and hostility as the government intensified its crackdown on dissent.
Opposition politicians, journalists, and others have been jailed in recent months, and the government has been accused of tightening its grip on the media and silencing dissenting voices.
Mumcu cited “provocative, immoral and insidious” content on Spotify that “ignores the public’s religious sensitivity for Prophet Muhammad” and targets Emine Erdogan, wife of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
