Censorship apparently isn’t just a problem on social media platforms. Online shopping giant Amazon is typically pretty good at allowing people with different perspectives to sell their products on the website. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come.
Alex Berenson, a former New York Times reporter who has been unafraid of being critical of the COVID-19 “information” being served to people, wrote a booklet that provides people with COVID information that they aren’t being told about. Berenson tweeted that he submitted his book to Amazon on Thursday evening for approval for sale on their website.
BTW: last night I submitted my first coronavirus facts booklet ("Unreported Truths about COVID-19 and Lockdowns") for sale to @amazon. Normally the review/publishing process does not take long. Hopefully that will be the case this time and I won't have to scream about censorship.
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 4, 2020
Berenson’s fears came true when only seven minutes later he tweeted a screenshot of an email from Amazon informing him that his book wouldn’t be offered for sale because it “does not comply with our [Amazon] guidelines.”
Oh fuck me. I can’t believe it. They censored it. pic.twitter.com/GfPEr7OiV2
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 4, 2020
Tesla CEO Elon Musk decided to voice his displeasure with the move and address Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Musk also noted in a subsequent tweet that it’s “time to break up Amazon” because he believes they have a monopoly.
This is insane @JeffBezos
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2020
Time to break up Amazon. Monopolies are wrong!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2020
Within hours of Musk’s tweet criticizing Amazon for the censorship of Berenson’s book, Amazon informed the writer that his book was approved for sale.
IT'S LIVE! Again, thanks to @elonmusk and everyone who helped.https://t.co/UDdRlQ4wYL
— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) June 4, 2020
It’s kind of hypocritical for Amazon to censor a book about COVID information because the situation is constantly changing, depending on what you believe. If the media can get away with shaping and molding information in order to fit their pre-approved narratives, then why couldn’t a book about COVID information hit the market. If consumers don’t like it or find it to be misleading, they’ll say so and people going forward will most likely not buy the book.
That’s called a free market. Just as you have the right to disagree with others, the market at large also has the right to dictate what sells and what doesn’t. Obviously there are exceptions, such as items, products or otherwise that are genuinely harmful to people and possibly their health. But, let the people decide whether or not they’ll trust the information coming from anywhere.
The media, like the Amazon-owned Washington Post, should realize that it’s precisely the free market that makes people tune them out in ever-increasing numbers.
H/T: The Blaze