A song that levels Islamophobic hate at Pakistani-British singer Zayn Malik has been removed from Spotify following a fan campaign.
The track, Zayn Did 9/11, was shared online by Uma Kompton in 2017.
Little is known about internet personality Kompton. In 2016, it was revealed that an anonymous troll had stolen a stranger's photos and was using them online as Kompton.
Despite the fact that the song has been online for three years, a fan campaign resulted in it being taken off in the past week. The hashtag #RemoveItForZayn began trending, with the demand that the song was taken down from streaming sites.
"Why would anyone intentionally do this? Nothing about this is funny or entertaining," one fan wrote on Twitter, tagging Spotify. "This is potentially harmful for Zayn emotionally and physically. This is blatant racism and there is no room for these things in our world. Remove it."
that disgusting song needs to be removed of all listening platforms! #removeitforzayn https://t.co/ZV23bssG6U
— AITCH BEE🪄 (@_halimatou_) July 19, 2020
The campaign urged fans not to listen to the song, but to email music and video streaming platforms and request its removal. The song was taken down from Spotify on Sunday, July 19.
"Spotify prohibits content on the platform which expressly and principally promotes, advocates, or incites hatred or violence against a group or individual based on characteristics, including, race, religion, gender identity, sex, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, veteran status or disability," Spotify said in a statement shared with The National. "When content that violates this standard is identified it is removed from the platform."
Kompton's Spotify page remains online and features a series of song titles that seem to have been written to insult or provoke. According to the available online statistics, the page gets 14,378 monthly listeners.
The song has also been removed from Apple Music but is still on YouTube. The National has reached out to Apple and YouTube for comment.
The removal of the song came days before the 10-year anniversary of One Direction, the boyband that launched Malik's career and was formed on British talent show The X Factor in 2010. The anniversary falls on Thursday, July 23.
With Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, Malik made up the successful five-piece band. However, he left the group to pursue a solo career in 2015.
Malik is now in a relationship with model Gigi Hadid, who is of Dutch-Palestinian descent. The couple are expecting their first child together this autumn.
