Spotify has removed an Islamophobic song targeting singer Zayn Malik from its platform, following a public backlash by fans of the former One Direction member.
The track Zayn Did 9/11, from noted Twitter troll Uma Kompton, is no longer available to stream on Spotify.
The minute-long track does what it says on the tin, linking Malik, who was raised in a Muslim household, to the 2001 terrorist attack which killed nearly 3,000 people in New York City and the Pentagon.
The song appears to have landed on the streaming platform in 2017 but was resurfaced by Malik’s fans overnight.
Fans of the British singer circulated the hashtag #RemoveItForZayn, accusing Kompton of overt racism and bigotry.
https://twitter.com/aylakhoury/status/1284923218625810433
https://twitter.com/myrtherommens/status/1284928366194364416
This absolute islamophobic filth of a song needs to be removed right fuckin now!🤢#removeitforzayn pic.twitter.com/iuAjebyxac
— s loves h! ¹ᴰ 💕 (@glitteryshivani) July 19, 2020
The song appears to have fallen foul of Spotify’s guidelines in hate speech.
“Spotify does not permit content whose principal purpose is to incite hatred or violence against people because of their race, religion, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation,” the company announced in 2018.
“As we’ve done before, we will remove content that violates that standard.
“We’re not talking about offensive, explicit, or vulgar content – we’re talking about hate speech.”
This is not the first time Kompton has received considerable scrutiny.
In 2016, BuzzFeed News revealed Uma Kompton’s Twitter presence, known for its inflammatory trolling and edgelord content, used stolen photos from a Russian social media network.
The Uma Kompton account was suspended after that article’s publication.
