Tell Amazon to stop doing business with racist hate groups!

Tell Amazon to stop doing business with racist hate groups!

Violent, authoritarian ideologies, including neo-Nazism and white nationalism, are on the rise. And Amazon, the so-called “everything store,” serves as a platform for individuals and groups pushing these ideas to grow their movements and make money.

A report by the Action Center on Race and the Economy and the Partnership for Working Families finds that despite its stated policies, Amazon enables those who traffic in hate by allowing the sale of hate symbols and imagery on the site, including confederate, anti-Black, Nazi and fascist imagery — even in products that are targeted toward children. And as a publisher of media in ebook, print book and streaming formats, Amazon facilitates the spread of hate ideologies including white supremacy, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and homophobia. Amazon provides a platform for openly racist writers, musicians and activists, including some who advocate for violence against Black people, Muslims, Jewish people and LGBTQ people.

Sign the Petition: Tell Amazon, stop doing business with racist hate groups!

In a moment when organized hate groups are gaining members and power, and racial violence is dramatically increasing, Amazon enables these people and groups to spread their ideas and generate resources to support their operations. Rather than seeking to profit from the hate market, Amazon must take a public stand against this hate and violence, and stop enabling others to profit from racism.

TAKE ACTION: Tell Amazon to stop doing business with racist hate groups!

Letter to Jeff Bezos and Amazon Board of Directors

Dear Jeff Bezos and Amazon Board of Directors,

While incidents of violence by individuals associated with white nationalist hate groups are on the rise, Amazon continues to be a platform for the celebration of ideologies that promote violence against black people, communities of color, LGBTQ people, women, Muslims and Jewish people. Right now, Amazon is a safe haven for those who seek to spread and profit from these hateful ideas.

A report by the Action Center on Race and the Economy and the Partnership for Working Families found that your company enables the spread of violent ideologies by allowing the sale of hate symbols and imagery on the site, including confederate and anti-Black imagery, Nazi and fascist imagery and the newly adopted imagery of the modern white nationalist movement. Some of these products are even targeted toward children. Additionally, white power and "hatecore" music is available on Amazon’s streaming platform, hate literature is available in Kindle ebooks, and known hate groups are using Amazon’s web content delivery network.

Serving as a platform for hate just to turn a profit is dangerous and unacceptable. Amazon must take a public stand against this hate and violence, and take action to ensure that it is not profiting from hate or enabling others to profit from hate.

Amazon must:

  • Take a clear public stand against hate movements and their ideologies and publicly pledge not to profit from hate.
  • Develop more robust policies for all of its platforms in consultation with experts who study hate movements and symbols, such as the Southern Poverty Law Center. These new policies must be consistent and transparent, and evolve appropriately as hate movements and their symbols evolve.
  • Develop and resource transparent enforcement mechanisms to ensure that Amazon and its users and clients are adhering to its policies.
  • Stop letting its platform be used to sell items featuring hate symbols.
  • Destroy any merchandise displaying hate symbols currently in Amazon-controlled warehouses and distribution centers.
  • Stop facilitating the publication and distribution of hate movement propaganda. This means that Amazon should:
    • Stop providing web content delivery services to identified hate groups.
    • Remove electronic books by racist propagandists and authors connected to hate groups from Kindle ebooks.
    • Stop allowing hate literature to be published via Kindle Direct Publishing.
    • Stop making white power and “hatecore” music available on its streaming platform.

Across its platforms, Amazon has the right and responsibility to determine what it sells, publishes and helps to deliver online. Now is the time to make clear that Amazon does not support or condone the spread of white nationalist ideologies.

Now is the time to stop doing business with racist hate groups!

Add your name


ACRE: Action Center on Race and the Economy
ALIGN NY
Color of Change
New York Communities for Change
Partnership for Working Families
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union
SumOfUs
United for a New Economy