Spotify is scrambling to remove dozens of podcasts promoting online prescription drug sales

If you search “Adderall” on Spotify’s podcast page, you’ll find health podcasts about ADHD, shows about addiction recovery and comedy podcasts where hosts talk about using the medication. You may also come across multiple pages masquerading as podcasts that direct users to buy drugs from potentially dangerous and illegal online pharmacies. The intention of many of these pages is obvious from their names. Podcasts with titles, such as “My Adderall Store” — which has a link in the episode description to a site that purportedly sells Adderall, as well as potentially addictive pain medications like Oxycodone and Vicodin, among other drugs — were listed within the first 50 suggested results, a CNN review this week found. CNN identified dozens of these fake podcasts across Spotify, advertising sales of medications ranging from Methadone to Ambien, in some cases claiming that the drugs can be purchased without a prescription, which is illegal in the United States. Spotify is now scrambling to remove these fake podcast pages, which violate its rules and which, at best, may be spam and, and worst, could direct users to sites that violate the law. Within hours after CNN sent Spotify a list of 26 podcasts promoting online pharmacies that were live as of Thursday afternoon, the platform had removed them. A spokesperson said they violated its rules, which prohibit illegal and spam content. Still, even after Spotify removed the podcasts CNN sent on Thursday, others continued to appear on the platform Friday morning. “We are constantly working to detect and remove violating content across our service,” a Spotify spokesperson told CNN in a statement. The findings come as parents have urged tech giants to crack down on the sale of counterfeit or illicit drugs to young people through their platforms, after multiple teens have died of overdoses from pills bought online. They also raise questions about Spotify’s moderation capabilities as AI makes it easier than ever to churn out fake content. Lauren Balik, who runs a blog about tech company stocks, called on Spotify CEO Daniel Ek to address the fake podcast issue in a post on X earlier this week. Business Insider also published a report on the issue on Thursday that said it flagged hundreds of the podcasts that Spotify subsequently removed. Multiple US government agencies have warned that ordering medications from online pharmacies may be illegal and could have harmful — and potentially deadly — consequences. In 2011, Google was fined $500 million for running ads for Canadian online pharmacies illegally selling prescription drugs to US consumers, after which the internet giant took various steps to combat online pharmacies appearing in ads or search results. And in 2018, the US Food and Drug Administration called on tech platforms, including Facebook, Reddit and Twitter (now called X), to do more to prevent illegal opioid sales on their sites. Still, tech platforms that host content pointing users to those sites, are largely subject to “a lack of any repercussions, any accountability,” according to Katie Paul, director of the non-profit Tech Transparency Project. That’s because federal law generally protects tech platforms from liability over what users post on their sites. “There’s no regulations,” Paul added. Podcasts advertise ‘delivery without prescription’ Even after the issue was called to Spotify’s attention, CNN was easily able to find dozens of these fake, drug sales podcast pages, including some that had been posted on the platform for months. One such podcast, called “Xtrapharma.com,” posted eight episodes, each less than 10-seconds long, on November 29, 2024. The episodes featured a computerized voice advertising Xanax, Percocet, Oxycontin or Hydrocodone for sale “with FDA-approved delivery without prescription.” “Our platform provides a seamless experience for those seeking solid medications like Xanax,” the Xtrapharma.com podcast description on Spotify read. “With just a few clicks, you can avail yourself of this trusted medication from the comfort of your home, ensuring discretion and convenience while prioritizing your mental health needs.” Another podcast titled “Order Xanax 2 mg Online Big Deal On Christmas Season” posted its only episode on December 2 last year. In the 26-second episode, a computerized voice said, “Are you a health-conscious guy? Presenting the best health advisor episode first time on Spotify,” before describing Xanax. Its description linked users to an online pharmacy that claims to deliver “Government approved medicine to the customer’s doorstep.” The proliferation of text-to-speech tools has made it easier and faster to create large volumes of this kind of spammy content. “I think podcasts have a bigger blind spot, because … voice makes it much more difficult for moderation,” Paul told CNN. One Spotify podcast titled “John Elizabeth,” with thumbnail art advertising a pharmacy website, had dozens of episodes featuring a voice that sounds computer-generated. The website advertised was the same as that promoted on another podcast, called My Adderall Store. “If you’re in search of Ativan for sale online with fast delivery, you’re in luck,” the voice said in one episode of the show. “Our online store offers a hassle-free shopping experience, making it easy for you to get the medication you need without any trouble.” On an initial CNN search of Spotify podcasts for “Adderall,” at least seven podcasts advertising online pharmacies showed up within the first 100 results. On a search for “Xanax,” 20 of the first 60 results promoted online pharmacies. And on a search for “Valium,” two of the first five suggested results were promoting online pharmacies. Fake podcasts also surfaced in searches for “Vyvanse,” “Codeine” and “Percocet,” such as a show titled “How Percocet Dosage Taken No RX” with episodes like “Order Codeine Online Safe Pharmacy Louisiana” that linked to an online pharmacy along with a coupon code. None of the drug sales podcasts that CNN viewed had been rated by users on the platform, so it’s not clear how many people may have viewed or interacted with them. CNN could not confirm if orders placed through these sites would actually be delivered. Spotify’s moderation rules In some cases, after CNN engaged with these podcasts — including one called “Adderall 10 mg blue pills” — the site appeared to remove them; links to the shows redirected to a page saying, “Sorry, that’s not currently available.” However, more than two dozen others remained active until CNN asked Spotify about them. Spotify offers free tools that allow anyone to create, distribute and, potentially, monetize podcasts. However, it notes in its creator guidelines that its mission to “democratize audio” doesn’t mean “anything goes on our platform.” Those guidelines prohibit, for example, hateful content, sexually explicit content, illegal content and spam, including content made “solely to … promote a product or service.” The platform says it may remove content that violates those creator guidelines. “Mass publishing identical or indistinguishable content that directs listeners to potentially harmful sites or services, or violates our monetization policies,” Spotify said in the guidelines. Separately, Spotify’s platform rules also prohibit “content that illicitly promotes the sale of regulated or illegal goods,” including illegal drugs. It says it uses both automated technology and human reviewers to enforce its rules. Spotify has previously been criticized over health-related content on the platform. In 2022, several prominent artists raised concerns or pulled their music catalogues from the site, in protest of its popular podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience,” which had repeatedly spread false claims about vaccines and the pandemic. In response, Spotify added a content advisory to all podcast episodes that discuss Covid, directing users to trusted sources. (Rogan also promised to do more thorough research and provide more balanced information about Covid.) The company continued to ramp up its moderation efforts following that 2022 debacle, including establishing a Safety Advisory Council to provide feedback on Spotify’s rules and enforcement. It also acquired Kinzen, a machine learning startup capable of screening audio content for rules violations. But online safety experts say the fake podcasts are a sign that Spotify needs to do more to protect its platform. “What’s true is that anywhere people can post user-generated content, you will find … people selling drugs,” said Sarah Gardner, CEO of the Heat Initiative, a non-profit that advocates for child safety online. “That part is, unfortunately, pretty consistent. It’s really about what the companies do to combat it.”