Amazon CEO says company won't take down antisemitic film

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

today

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Wednesday the company does not have plans to stop selling the antisemitic film that gained notoriety recently after Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving tweeted out an Amazon link to it.

Pressure has been mounting on Amazon to discontinue sale of the film, called “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” since Irving shared the link to the documentary with his millions of Twitter followers in October. The synopsis on Amazon says the film “uncovers the true identity of the Children of Israel.”

At The New York Times’ DealBook Summit in New York City, Jassy said it is difficult for the company to determine what content crosses the line to where Amazon doesn’t make it available to customers.

“As a retailer of content to hundreds of millions of customers with a lot of different viewpoints, we have to allow access to those viewpoints, even if they are objectionable — objectionable and they differ from our particular viewpoints,” the Times quoted Jassy as saying.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/brooklyn-nets-nba-entertainment-technology-sports-be59946e0620997b8f1e2ac267bb9e4c?utm_source=Connatix&utm_medium=HomePage

[Freethinker65]

1. Do they "have to" or do they "choose to"?

Perhaps Amazon can donate any profits they make from listing the film?

[sanatanadharma]

2. Corporate hands are tied; the customer rules!

Money always trumps morality.
Corporations are morally bound to produce money.

[Delphinus]

14. All three of your

statements ring true. Money is god.

[Marthe48]

3. Should I plan to boycott Amazon?

If I should, I'll do my best to shop elsewhere for the holidays coming up.

I'm aware of irving's comments, but didn't read the story in depth. I don't know anything about the film.

[Polybius]

19. No boycott

Just don't buy the film.

[Marthe48]

22. Thank you

I will not buy the film.

[tavernier]

4. I'm not a fan of book censorship.

I guess I should add that. I’m not a fan of censorship of any kind. I don’t like it when my books and films are censored.

Having said that, it sounds like a horrible disgusting film.

[nightwing1240]

13. Like you, I detest censorship

Never have I seen or read this trash and never would but am certain it is vulgar, vile and has no place in society. However, we should not begin choosing which books/movies/tapes/videos to burn and which to save. Hateful minds are going to do hateful things that is the way life has been from the beginning. It's going to take a lot more than censorship to cure that.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

5. Wonder how long a film about both the left and right uniting

to root out, hunt down, and imprison all the rich criminal CEO price gougers would last on Amazon?

[3825-87867]

7. They might not censor it, but...

you can bet it would be listed on the very last page of all listed books!

[randr]

6. People can always make and read reviews

[JohnSJ]

8. Unfortunately, this isn't a simple issue. The book and the film have so much falsehoods and

misinformation it is pathetic

The film contains antisemitic tropes, holocaust denial, and claims of an international Jewish conspiracy

https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/hebrews-negroes-what-you-need-know

https://extremismterms.adl.org/resources/blog/hebrews-negroes-what-you-need-know?gclid=Cj0KCQiAvqGcBhCJARIsAFQ5ke6RBtx_7qtqD5X5OnTJ-bkR2s-yl-kRohi3JIue4Lo-aksk6lCAmsQaAuQhEALw_wcB

Both the book and the film are best sellers, and anyone reading the personal reviews demonstrates just how easily people accept anything without question, regardless on the validity of the statement.

On Netflix, the so-called documentary "ancient apocalypse", the viewers reviews, is a key example of just how willing people will accept any garbage, without substance.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/nov/23/ancient-apocalypse-is-the-most-dangerous-show-on-netflix

I am not very optimistic about the human condition

[yardwork]

10. Flagrant anti-semitism is a national emergency. We must pay attention.

[turbinetree]

11. Hey Amazon.....when people try to vote to have a union on your property, you the oligarchy

make a determined decision to try and stop that correct....you also have in your business model a code of ethics that everyone has to adhere to correct....and every year you have classes to remind each and everyone of your employees that you will not tolerate hate, slurs, and racists comments on your property of any kind and it will cause people to be fired, and that everyone will follow the rules just based on those principle of ethics......I bet you have federal contracts that you have to follow. I just wonder what you would do if those federal contracts were pulled because there are federal standards that you have to meet........but since your firm has been granted the association of being classified as a citizen then act like one.....everyone else has to.......or is money more important because it made your entity a person.......do you understand that fact, just ask the courts .........

[twodogsbarking]

12. Hey we are Amazon. We can do whatever we want.

Fuck yuns all.

[Mosby]

15. This is a decision the legal dept made.

If they start reviewing content, that makes them responsible for missing objectionable content.

[patricia92243]

16. Do they sell books that are considered "porn" by most people?

[Coventina]

20. Yes. n/t

[Initech]

17. So it's OK to ban LGBT books but not OK to ban Nazi shit. Got it.

[Joinfortmill]

18. Put a warning on it so folks know what they are buying

[Polybius]

21. Just a few scant years ago, you could even buy David Duke's books on Amazon

Perhaps Amazon is gong back to those times.

[moniss]

23. I wonder how long Amazon and this CEO

would keep a film available on their site that talks about and documents the horrific conditions in Amazon warehouses, the products that obviously ripped off trademarks, the products for sale that are produced by child/slave labor, the flim-flam practices of re-sellers on the site that are knowingly allowed, examining the environmental impact of the company, examining how they screw their transportation/delivery people, etc. I mean after all it's just a difference of opinion right Mr. Jassy?

[Prairie_Seagull]

24. Dangerous is Dangerous.

If someone wrote a book about how to build a nuclear weapon, i sure there would be push back.

Free speech is limited to some extent. Rather it be spoken or bound. Hate the idea of ever banning books but I am glad the how-to for a nuclear weapon is not available.

Maybe a bit over the top but not much.

P.S. Haven't read book or seen movie. I do believe we need to figure out a way to put parentheses around (free speech)

[andym]

25. Does Amazon sell Mein Kampf? Yes.

Yes, indeed. So they make Hitler's own propaganda available. Free speech or hate speech? Both really.

However keep in mind that the ACLU supported American Nazis rights to march in Skokie Illinois in 1977. Many free speech advocates supported the ACLU at that time including future presidential candidate Mike Dukakis, on which he was attacked in 1988 by George HW Bush as a "card-carrying member of the ACLU."