Amazon has backed down over the banning of a COVID-19 book by a former New York Times journalist, following the company and Jeff Bezos being called out on social media by Elon Musk. This comes at a time when tech companies are finding it difficult to effectively moderate social media platforms, often opting for more of a blanket approach which inevitably impacts on more people than intended.
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic surfaced, tech companies have been looking to streamline important and accurate information and bury confusing and/or misinformation. In doing this, many companies have opted to rely on algorithms to make the decision on what is or isn’t deemed accurate or misinforming. In turn, this sometimes leads to some finding themselves getting a warning, suspension, or even banned from a platform, in spite of not breaking the rules.
This appears to be what recently happened when former reporter for The New York Times, Alex Berenson, explained on Twitter that Amazon had refused to sell his book, citing that it did not comply with the company’s guidelines. However, shortly afterwards, Amazon appeared to reverse its initial decision and has now accepted the book for publishing on the kindle platform, with the physical edition remaining under review. One of the notable events during the two decisions was Elon Musk entering the conversation.
Elon Musk To The Twitter Rescue
Following Berenson’s Tweet confirming the Amazon publishing denial, Musk replied to Berenson saying “this is insane” while also tagging Jeff Bezos. Minutes later, Musk replied to his own Tweet stating how it’s “time to break up Amazon” and adding “Monopolies are wrong!” Whether or not Musk’s Tweets did directly or indirectly help the situation, the intervention did help to immediately draw more attention to what was happening, as well as garner support for the author. So much so that Berenson followed up with another Tweet confirming the Amazon book ban reversal and effectively, crediting Musk for the Amazon change.
Berenson’s book, Unreported Truths About Covid-19 and Lockdowns, is likely to draw attention and criticism based on the title alone. In fact, this may have been one of the reasons why Amazon, or its algorithm, decided this book wasn’t for the company. In addition, Berenson also has raised concerns due to the former NYT reporter proving popular with coronavirus conspiracy theorists. Regardless, Berenson says the book is “based entirely on published government data and scientific papers,” while also adding, “it doesn’t say coronavirus isn’t real or doesn’t kill people.” Which if correct, highlights how Amazon’s original decision to ban the book could have come down to just the title. Alternatively, if the book does contravene Amazon’s policies and guidelines, then the choice to reverse that decision, amid social media pressure, could be just as concerning.
Source: Alex Berenson/Twitter