Add your name to the petition to demand that Spotify STOP airing ICE recruitment ads NOW!
Dear MoveOn member,
The Department of Homeland Security is ramping up its ad spending, wasting millions of dollars recruiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and intimidating immigrants. Streaming services like Spotify can stand up against these blatant attacks on communities—but instead they are profiting from platforming ICE recruitment ads.
Spotify is facing outrage and backlash from their refusal to stop airing the ICE recruitment ads, but we need to keep up the pressure and demand that they do the right thing.
More than 40,000 MoveOn members have signed the petition demanding that Spotify STOP airing ICE recruitment ads that vilify our immigrant neighbors. Will you add your name?
Every day, devastating and disturbing news comes out about the violence, chaos, and abuse being stoked by ICE in states across the country.
In Colorado, an ICE agent placed a peaceful protester in a chokehold and threw her down an embankment.1 Residents were opposing the detainment of a father and his two children.
In Los Angeles, a 25-year-old, Carlos Jimenez, was recently shot by ICE agents. He was just trying to let them know that children were going to be coming to the bus stop where they had parked their van.2 The incident came nearly a week after an ICE agent in L.A. also shot Carlitos Ricardo Parias, a father and beloved community member.3
Randall Alberto Gamboa Esquivel was detained by ICE earlier this year in Texas. He disappeared in June. When his family finally tracked him down, he was in a vegetative state in a hospital. He died last month.4
ICE agents are terrorizing our communities, infringing on our constitutional rights, and abusing and harming everyday people. Spotify has no business airing ICE's recruitment ads so DHS can send more of these bad actors into our communities.
If Spotify refuses to listen to us, the people, then we'll stop listening to them. Sign the petition to demand they STOP airing ICE's recruitment ads NOW.
Thanks for all you do.
–Aliya, Kelsey, Mia, Seth, and the rest of the team
P.S. See our email below from last week for more details on Spotify streaming ICE’s ads and why we’re pushing back.
1. "An Altercation With ICE Prompts a Police Chief to Push Back," The New York Times, November 3, 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/us/politics/durango-colorado-ice-protester.html
2. "Lawyers for US citizen shot by ICE agent say shooting was not self-defense," ABC News, November 4, 2025
https://abcnews.go.com/US/lawyers-us-citizen-shot-ice-agent-shooting-defense/story?id=127180596
3. "South LA man shot by immigration agent granted release from federal custody," NBC Los Angeles, October 31, 2025
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/south-la-ice-shooting-richard-la/3799206/
4. "Family speaks out after death of man deported by ICE in vegetative state," The Guardian, November 4, 2025
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/04/randall-alberto-gamboa-esquivel-ice-family
Tell Spotify: Stop running Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) propaganda recruitment ads NOW!
Dear MoveOn member,
Millions of users across the U.S. are being exposed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ads against their will while they are simply trying to listen to music or stream a podcast. Spotify, along with other major streaming platforms, has agreed to run ads to recruit more ICE agents—and it's as disturbing as it sounds.5
The ads use fearmongering language to describe immigrants—many of whom may be listeners on Spotify. They urge people to "fulfill your mission to protect America"6—meanwhile, ICE agents are terrorizing cities across the country, violating people's basic rights, and snatching people with no due process.7 This is straight up Trump administration propaganda that should not be given a platform.
It's egregious that Spotify is allowing its platform—centered on music and creativity—to be co-opted by the Trump administration to be a mouthpiece for ICE and its harmful and unlawful raids. Add your name to the petition to demand that they stop the ads NOW!
Spotify is a music streaming platform—not a government recruitment site. Listeners don’t want to be bombarded with propaganda while trying to listen to their favorite artists—let alone when it uses dehumanizing and offensive language to villainize their friends, family members, and neighbors.
And when Spotify rightly faced outrage and backlash from customers about the ads, they instead doubled down on their decision, claiming that the ads didn't violate advertiser policy. Despite the fact that their policy clearly prohibits ads that “promote stereotypes or negatively portray or attack an individual or group on the basis of race, religion, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, veteran status, age, disability or other characteristics associated with systemic discrimination or marginalization."8
And trust us, these ads promote stereotypes.
If offensive ICE recruitment ads don't meet the threshold of policy violation for Spotify, that’s a problem in their policy and the ads. And they need to not only cancel their contract with ICE but also revise their advertiser policy to prevent this from happening in the future.
Together, we can remind Spotify that their listeners, not their advertisers, call the shots. Will you sign the petition to demand that they cancel their contract with ICE and create policies to ensure this never happens again?
Listeners are not the only ones speaking out against the ads—artists are, too.
Millions of artists are platformed on Spotify, and they are also negatively affected by the major streaming company’s decision to sidle up to ICE and the Trump administration. One popular band, Thursday, issued a statement: “We join the wider independent musical community in calling upon Spotify to remove any and all ICE recruitment advertising from its platform." They followed up asking for support: "A single voice is tiny but collective action is mighty, so please join us."9
We need to join together and leverage our power as listeners, consumers, and artists. Spotify is hoping to ride out the wave of opposition so they can curry favor with the Trump administration and pocket the profits from ICE recruitment ads that are negatively impacting our communities and democracy.
Well, we aren’t backing down.
Add your name to the petition to demonstrate to Spotify and other major streaming platforms that we refuse to listen to hateful propaganda—and if they refuse to stop the ads, we’ll refuse to subscribe.
Thanks for all you do.
–Aliya, Kelsey, Mia, Seth, and the rest of the team
Sources:
5. "Dystopian ICE recruitment ads tell users to 'fulfill your mission' on Spotify, HBO Max and other streaming services," The Independent, October 16, 2025
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/ice-recruitment-ads-spotify-streaming-b2846634.html
6. "Spotify users boycott streaming platform over ICE recruitment ads," Euronews, October 22, 2025
https://www.euronews.com/culture/2025/10/22/spotify-users-boycott-streaming-platform-over-ice-recruitment-ads
7. "'Brazen, midday kidnappings:' LA immigration sweeps violate Constitution, lawsuit says," Cal Matters, July 2, 2025
https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/07/la-immigration-raids-lawsuit/
8. "Advertising Policies," Spotify, accessed October 29, 2025
https://adshelp.spotify.com/HelpCenter/s/article/advertising-policies-US?language=en_US
9. "News: Thursday Takes a Stand Against Spotify Regarding Ice Recruitment Ads," New Noise Magazine, October 27, 2025
https://newnoisemagazine.com/news-thursday-take-a-stand-against-spotify-regarding-ice-recruitment-ads/
You're receiving this petition because we thought it might interest you. It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition here.
Want to support MoveOn's work? Donald Trump’s authoritarian takeover intensifies every day. But we must remember that authoritarian governments worldwide have not withstood a challenge by 3.5% or more of its people. MoveOn can reach, train, organize, and support at a scale unparalleled in the progressive movement—which we need now more than ever. Will you make a monthly donation today to power this urgent and critical organizing?
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:
Donate: $5 monthly
Donate: $15 monthly
Donate: $50 monthly
Donate another amount monthly
Or make a one-time gift
Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. MoveOn.org Civic Action - PO Box 96141, Washington, D.C. 20090-6141. ActBlue Civics Inc. is the merchant of record for all transactions made to MoveOn Civic Action using the ActBlue platform. ActBlue Civics Inc. receives and processes these donations before disbursing them to MoveOn Civic Action within 30 days of receipt.
This email was sent to John xxxxxx on November 15, 2025. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. MoveOn's privacy policy was recently updated. To read our new privacy policy, click here. To remove yourself from this list, unsubscribe.
