Spotify buys Dublin-based Kinzen

Audio-streaming service Spotify said today that it has bought Ireland-based Kinzen, a company that has helped it identify harmful content on the platform.

Kinsen was founded by Mark Little and Áine Kerr.Today's deal is part of Spotify's efforts to deal with harmful content on its service after backlash earlier this year over "The Joe Rogan Experience," in which the podcaster was accused of spreading misinformation about Covid-19.

Dublin-based Kinzen has been working with Spotify since 2020, initially focusing on the integrity of election-related content.Since then, Kinzen's remit has expanded to include targeting misinformation, disinformaton and hate speech.

"Kinzen offers a combination of tools and expertise to help us better understand the content on our platform and emerging abuse trends," said Sarah Hoyle, Spotify's head of trust and safety.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Earlier this year, Spotify said it would be more transparent in how it determines what is acceptable and unacceptable content.It published its platform rules for the first time in January and in June, it formed a Safety Advisory Council to provide input on harmful content.

Kinzen will provide early warnings about problems in different markets, helping Spotify more effectively moderate content in more languages.