Amazon famously blocked a book that was compassionate, but not unapologetically truthful about gender dysphoria. Ryan T. Anderson (author of the book) was interviewed one year later about what this incident means for American politics.
No good deed goes unpunished. Ryan T. Anderson (President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center), discovered that his book was published in 2021. The Transgender Moment: When Harry Became Sally Amazon removed the book. “‘It’s been almost a year since Amazon delisted my book, ‘When Harry Became Sally,’” he tweeted Jan 10. “The @DailySignal sent a crew out to my home to do a short video on what happened–and why it matters. Ultimately it’s a sign both of strength–and weakness–when it comes to BigTech & trans ideology.” He warned that the implications of Amazon censorship are bigger than the words and ideas of one author: “[S]o even if you disagree with me, you should be concerned if a social media company can choke the dissemination of a newspaper’s reach, if a — the world’s largest commerce online site, [Amazon,] its the largest retailer in the world — is a choke point.”
Anderson said he had gone to great pains to make sure the book handled the discourse around transgenderism delicately, and even so was purged from the platform for violating Amazon’s moderation policy. According to The Daily Signal, Anderson was quoted in correspondence that he had with Amazon’s spokesperson.
“As a bookseller, we provide our customers with access to a variety of viewpoints, including books that some customers may find objectionable. We reserve the right to not sell content that is described in our Content Guidelines for Books. Click here.”
Amazon’s Content Guidelines for Books page makes no mention of banning scientific facts that offend liberals, but it does cite both “content that we determine is hate speech” and “other material we deem inappropriate or offensive,” which may as well mean the same thing.
Anderson explained this in The Daily Signal’s videoThe reason he wrote the book was to fill a gap in transgender discourse.
“You wouldn’t want to be experiencing gender dysphoria, but if you were experiencing it, you would want someone to be giving you kind of like authentic, compassionate guidance. And compassion detached from truth isn’t authentic, right? It’s a phony form of compassion, where you just say what people want to hear.”
Such nuance is rare in modern society that Anderson explained he felt compelled to take action: “If I don’t write this book, who will?”
Conservatives are being attacked. Amazon customer service at (206) 266 1000 or postal mail: 410 Terry Avenue North Seattle WA 98109 to demand support for the First Amendment. We can help you if your message has been removed.Use the contact formPlease help us make Big Tech more accountable.
About Post Author
