The Biden administration pressured Amazon to censor books related to the COVID-19 vaccine in early 2021 citing concerns that the material contained “propaganda” and “misinformation,” an internal company email released by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) seems to be indicated.
The documents were obtained by the House Judiciary Committee and the Subcommittee on Federal Government Armaments through a subpoena, Jordan said said in the X thread Monday, which he dubbed, “THE AMAZON FILE.”
“Who can we talk to about the high level of propaganda and misinformation and misinformation [sic] Amazon?” Andrew Slavitt, former White House senior adviser for the COVID-19 response, wrote to the online retailer in a March 2, 2021 email, released by Jordan.
“If you look for ‘vaccine’ under the book, I see what comes up,” Slavitt wrote in a follow-up message the same day. “I haven’t seen more than that but if that’s what’s on the surface, it’s worrying.”
The Biden administration has previously come under fire for encouraging social media companies to block anti-COVID-19 vaccine content. AFP via Getty Images Amazon is “feeling pressure” from the Biden White House about how it promotes certain book titles, company emails show. Gado via Getty Images
Amazon officials initially refused to perform “manual intervention” to remove certain book titles from appearing, arguing that it would be “too visible” and lead to further scrutiny.
“We will not be doing manual intervention today,” an email between Amazon executives read. “The PR/team felt very strongly that it was too visible, and would add to the Harry/Sally narrative (which is getting the Fox News treatment today apparently), and would not solve the long-term problem … because of the behavior of allied clients.”
The Amazon official, whose name was redacted from the email, later stated that another individual at the company, whose name was also redacted, “gave very direct guidance to the team to be boring and not do anything that was visible and would attract more attention. .”
The email stated that a tweak to the bookseller’s website that would redirect more customers searching for certain keywords to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website was in the works and that a screenshot of the change should be sent to the White House, but it warned workers to flirt with the Biden administration about possible further action.
An email from former White House official Andrew Slavitt appears to have prompted the company’s action. X / @JudiciaryGOP
“The [White House] might ask why we don’t flag such content [Facebook]/Twitter does if we don’t take it down,” the Amazon official wrote. “That is an option that is being explored but we don’t want to disclose to avoid boxing.”
Amazon defended its book-selling practices in another March 2, 2021, internal email, stating that the company’s guidelines “do not specifically address content about vaccines” and that “retailers are different from social media communities.”
A week later, on March 9, 2021, Amazon met with White House officials, according to the email, and the company’s “main talking point” was whether the Biden administration wanted books blacklisted by the site or suppressed in search results.
“Are Admins asking us to remove books, or are they more concerned about search/order results (or both)?” read company email.
“Are Admins asking us to remove books, or are they more concerned about search/order results (or both)?” company executives wondered. X / @JudiciaryGOP
In another email discussing an upcoming negative media story about a COVID-19 vaccine book sold by Amazon, an official acknowledged that the company is “feeling pressure from the White House Task Force on this issue as well.”
The pressure applied by the Biden administration appears to have worked, as the company placed an “anti-vax book” under a “Do Not Promote” order on the same day Amazon officials met with the White House.
“As a reminder, we have enabled Do Not Promote for anti-vax books whose primary purpose is to convince readers vaccines are unsafe or ineffective on 3/9 and will review additional handling options for these books,” an email between company employees stated.
Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee and the Armaments subcommittee, revealed that both panels will investigate the alleged censorship efforts.
“Right. Amazon bowed to pressure from the Biden White House to censor the speech,” Jordan said in a tweet.
Amazon did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The company issued a “Do Not Promote” order for certain vaccine-related books on the same day Amazon officials met with the White House. X / @JudiciaryGOP
In March, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit filed by attorneys general in Missouri and Louisiana alleging the Biden administration colluded with social media companies to suppress free speech related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last summer, a US district court ruled that administration officials forced companies including Twitter and Facebook to censor content out of concern it would lead to vaccine skepticism.
An appeals court later banned many White House officials, as well as the FBI, the Office of the Surgeon General and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from communicating with the social media company.
The Supreme Court issued a temporary stay of the appeals court order last October until it decides the case.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
