Türkiye is going after Spotify because of a remark about golden toilets

Türkiye has launched an investigation into Spotify, accusing the company of “engaging in practices that complicate the operations of its rivals in the online music streaming services market and/or affect the distribution of the royalties paid to various parties within the framework of its licensing relationships, and by discriminating between artists and content creators on the platform in various ways, including their visibility on the platform.”

Okay, so another competition bureau investigation, right? But now let’s go to X for this post (in Turkish) by Dr. Batuhan Mumcu, who is the country’s deputy minister of culture and tourism. Here’s a partial translation of Dr. Mumcu’s complaint.

“[Spotify includes] content that targets our religious and national values and insults the beliefs of our society.” Like what? Religious sensitivities as well “content that targets the esteemed wife of our President.” This is where we get to golden toilets.

There’s a Spotify playlist that targets Emine Erdoğan and all the things she’s supposedly done, including the installation of golden toilets in the official presidential residence.

Spotify didn’t create this playlist, of course. It was created by a user. Still, Spotify seems cowed enough to want to cooperate with the investigation, “cooperating with the investigation, are actively seeking to understand it, and will work toward a swift, constructive resolution with the Turkish Competition Authority.”

What a timeline we live in, huh?