iTunes Canada has removed several songs with anti-gay lyrics from its online store, in response to a campaign led by Egale and Stop Murder Music.

The songs - by Jamaican dancehall artists Buju Banton, Elephant Man and TOK - contain lyrics that advocate the killing of gays.

"iTunes is exercising its corporate responsibility by pulling this murder music and raising the bar for other retailers and distributors to do the same," says Akim Larcher, founder of SMM. He calls iTune's decision a victory for the gay community in Canada and in the Caribbean.

Egale and SMM wrote to iTunes in January, asking for homophobic tracks to be removed from the online store. They noted three songs that promoted violence against gays, and those tracks have now been removed.