UPDATED 00:22 EDT / AUGUST 03 2018

POLICY

Amazon removes products featuring white nationalism and Nazi symbolism

After some pressure Amazon.com Inc. Thursday said it’s removing multiple products from its website that promoted white nationalism or items that featured Nazi symbols.

The pressure came in the form of a letter from Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota. He was responding to concerns made by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which had identified white nationalist literature being sold on the site.

Moreover, the letter stated, according to a July report titled “Delivering Hate: How Amazon’s Platforms Are Used to Spread White Supremacy, Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia,” the site has allowed myriad hate-promoting products and literature to be sold on the site.

The list is a long one, but it includes items such as a “hangman’s noose decal” described as “one of the most powerful visual symbols” used against black Americans. Also found was a “Confederate Officer” kids’ costume and baby onesies featuring a burning cross, as the report states, available for both boys and girls.

The report also lists many items featuring Nazi symbols, including a “German SS officer sword with the SS ‘bolts.'” What’s more disturbing, said the report, is that so many products, toys and clothes and children’s books, were aimed at influencing the very young.

“I am disturbed that such a powerful corporation is materially fueling the rise of hate groups in our country,” Ellison said in a letter to Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos. He also asked how much profit might be made from such materials.

Even though these products go against Amazon’s policies, Buzzfeed found some of the listed items still to be on the site. Amazon responded, stating that the letter sent by Ellison was reviewed and all the items were being taken down. “Sellers are expected to comply with our policies, and we immediately investigate any reported violations,” said Amazon.

In another response to Ellison himself, Amazon said any such items promoting or glorifying hate, violence, racism and religious intolerance will be taken off the site. Brian Huseman, Amazon’s vice president of public policy, told Ellison the products were not only removed but the sellers were blocked or were being reviewed for suspension.

“We have restricted the inventory to prevent it from being sold and are in the process of removing it from our fulfillment centers,” he said.

Image: Aritra Sen/Flickr

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