The popular Seattle-based site Amazon.com is under pressure after nearly 60,000 books were removed from their listings for dealing with GLBT material.
Last Sunday, there were rumblings on Twitter that quickly grew into the most talked about topic – even beating out “Easter” and “Jesus.” The most popular phrase that day was #AmazonFail, and many who followed it were ready to take up arms in response.
As early as last February, books that dealt with Gay and Lesbian subject matter have had their sale ranking removed (meaning they will no longer show up in searches) under the pretence of being “Adult” material. This previous weekend, the final headcount was at over 57,000 books including classics like Lady Chatterly’s Lover and the recent book-to-screenplay Brokeback Mountain. Items like Playboy: The Complete Centerfolds collection, however, remained.
Amazon has yet to release an official statement, but is blaming the removal of these books on a “glitch” that flagged and automatically removed the sales listings. Because of the large outcry from the online community, the issue was bumped up to the Sev-1 level of concern (meaning it goes straight to the Senior Vice-President) almost immediately.
Since Sunday, the majority of the books have had their sales ranking reinstated, and the “flag material as innapropriate” button on their website has been temporarily disabled. Amazon should be releasing and official statement and apology in the near future.
If you would like to follow the discussion on Twitter, simply search for the #amazonfail tag.
