Allow users to block followers

Allow users to block followers

Started
April 4, 2015
Petition to
Spotify
Signatures: 18,663Next Goal: 25,000
Support now

Why this petition matters

Started by Morgan Elliot

Like most people my age, I’m an avid user of social media. I love how easy these services have made keeping up with my family and friends, but I recently learned about a terrifying dark side: I was harassed and stalked online by an acquaintance who was able to monitor me through my social media profiles.

To protect myself, I began the process of cutting off all contact with this person, and blocking them from all of my social media accounts. That was when I discovered that Spotify only provides minimal account security and does not allow users to block others from following their activity or playlists.

That shocked me.

One of the most common scare tactics used by online stalkers is to follow and monitor their victims through social media. Even if you cut off contact, the ability for a harasser to continue following you is a form of intimidation in itself, as if they are saying, “you can’t stop me from watching you, even here.”

I do not want anyone who has been abused to be re-victimized through social media, which is why it is so important that these networks provide robust account security and the ability to easily block and report abusive followers.  That has become the standard on social media sites, and yet Spotify, the most popular music streaming service in the country, does not provide it.

When I attempted to block my harasser on Spotify, I learned that the only way I could stop them from following my activity would be to ask Spotify to delete my account (which could take 48 hours), and then reopen a new one -- and even then,that person could still find me and start following my new account. It is crazy to think that myself and millions of other people are paying for a service that is not taking our safety and security seriously, and I think it is time for that to change.

There is an easy way to fix this problem, and victims like me have been calling on Spotify to make this change for months. It is about time that they listen. Please stand with me in telling Spotify to take safety seriously and give users the ability to block the people harassing them.

Support now
Signatures: 18,663Next Goal: 25,000
Support now
Share this petition in person or use the QR code for your own material.Download QR Code

Decision Makers

  • Spotify