Turkey threatens Spotify with legal action after it hosts user-made playlists claiming the president's wife has a golden toilet
Dr Batuhan Mumcu, 42, called for legal action against Spotify in a post on X on Friday, stating that the platform 'persistently refuses' to take 'necessary steps' to remove 'offensive' content.
He tweeted that 'content that targets our religious and national values and insults the beliefs of our society' has been allowed 'under the guise of "playlists"'.
In a video attached to his post, he highlights the 'playlists' in question, including one which translates to 'Songs Emine Erdoğan listened to when her golden faucet broke' and another titled 'Emine Erdoğan's hot girl playlist'.
Mr Mumcu described them as 'insidiously provocative and morally unacceptable'.
Ms Erdoğan is the wife of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and it has long been claimed that the couple have gold-plated toilets in their presidential palace.
Located in the Beştepe neighborhood of Ankara, the complex has 1,000 rooms and is bigger than the White House. It has been criticised for its £400million building costs.
Mr Erdoğan previously invited leader of the main opposition party Kemal Kilicdaroglu to inspect the building, saying he would resign if a golden toilet was found.
As well as content that 'targets the esteemed wife of our President', Mr Mumcu pointed to playlists that disregard 'our religious sensitivities toward our Prophet Mohammed, deliberately and unacceptably targeting the beliefs, sacred values, and spiritual world of our people'.
'Spotify persistently refuses to take the necessary steps despite all our previous warnings,' he wrote.
He added that Turkey had been 'closely monitoring content on Spotify for a long time'.
The Deputy Culture Minister urged 'competent institutions' in Turkey to 'take action' as he argued Spotify's 'irresponsibility and lack of oversight' had now 'become a legal matter'.
Mr Mumcu's post has since gone viral and has been viewed more than 2.4million times on X, formerly Twitter. As expected, some Turkish residents could not help but comment.
'Sometimes the state doesn't like the name of your playlist,' one said.
'Imagine you have a title like Deputy Minister, and you're out hunting for playlists on Spotify,' a second tweeted. 'They've completely lost the plot.'
A third seemed to tease the politician by posting a playlist titled: 'Songs listened to by the Deputy Minister of Culture of the Republic of Turkey while opening an investigation'.
Another playlist translates to: 'What the Prophet Muhammad listened to while running away from the polytheists'
Songs included in the satirical playlist included Not Allowed by TV Girl and I Bet on Losing Dogs by Mitski.
Later the same day, Turkey's competition authority launched an investigation into Spotify for anti-competitive practices.
In a statement released on Friday, the competition authority said it had opened an investigation into 'various allegations that the strategies and policies implemented by Spotify... in Turkey has caused anti-competitive effects in the music industry'.
It said the probe would seek to establish whether Spotify gave more visibility to some artists and engaged in unfair practices in the distribution of royalties, thereby violating the competition law.
In a statement, Spotify, which launched in Turkey in 2013, said its operations complied with 'all applicable laws' but it would cooperate with the investigation although it lacked 'details on the inspection's scope or focus'.
'We are cooperating with the investigation, are actively seeking to understand it, and will work toward a swift, constructive resolution with the Turkish Competition Authority,' the statement said, without making any mention of the playlist allegations.
It said in 2024, it had paid 'over 2 billion Turkish lira ($25 million) to the local music industry' with its service playing a 'pivotal (role) in growing Turkish artists' royalties globally'.
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