Spotify no longer running ICE recruitment ads, after US government campaign ends
The Guardian••entertainment
Key Points:
- Spotify has confirmed it no longer runs advertisements for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following the end of a government recruitment campaign in late 2025.
- The ICE ads, which ran across multiple streaming platforms including Amazon, YouTube, Hulu, and Max, aimed to recruit over 10,000 deportation officers by the end of 2025 and offered $50,000 signing bonuses.
- The campaign ended before recent incidents involving ICE agents shooting individuals in Minneapolis and Portland, and before activist groups petitioned Spotify's new CEOs to ban government propaganda and hate-based recruitment ads.
- Spotify has faced backlash from musicians and listeners over the ICE ads and its founder Daniel Ek's investment in military AI company Helsing, leading some artists to withdraw
