The world’s largest online retailer, Amazon, has been criticized by the Simon Wiesenthal Center for selling Nazi and neo-Nazi paraphernalia. The Jewish human rights organization sent an urgent letter to Amazon, urging them to remove several items from their site. Rabbi Abraham Cooper from the Wiesenthal Center asked Amazon to put a system in place to quickly remove these items from their online marketplace.
In response to the letter, Amazon removed some of the items and referenced their policy on potentially offensive products. However, Amazon has not implemented the system that the Wiesenthal Center asked for. This is not the first time Amazon has been criticized for allowing potentially offensive content to be sold. Just last year, Amazon refused to ban a controversial film promoted by Kyrie Irving.
The issue of online retailers selling Nazi merchandise is not a new one. Major retailers such as Walmart and eBay have made headlines for allowing Nazi paraphernalia on their sites. In a statement, the Wiesenthal Center said, “We are deeply disappointed that Amazon, unlike other companies, failed to take decisive action to remove this offensive content and to put in place a system to prevent its re-emergence on its site.”