Documents obtained by the House Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government revealed that Amazon was pressured by the Biden administration to remove books that contained messages contrary to the government narrative during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) announced on X that Amazon created a new “class” for anti-vaccine books. He shared an image of an email thread that read, “The impetus for this request is criticism from the Biden administration about sensitive books we’re giving prominent placement to, and should be handled urgently.”
Forty-three books were added to the new class.
Some of the censored content included picture books designed for children.
“The children’s book said the vaccinated & unvaccinated can be friends,” Jordan wrote. “Instead of censoring it, Amazon should have sent the book to Fauci, @GavinNewsom, and @JoeBiden. Remember when they said everyone had to comply with their made-up rules and vax mandates or lose their jobs?”
Other books, including those discussing vaccines for parents of young children and even academic papers, were censored.
“Don’t let the Biden Admin tell you that their censorship campaign was about concerns of misinformation going viral on social media. They were going after BOOKS too,” the chairman added. “This is—and always has been—about suppressing disfavored views, not purported challenges of new technologies.”
He emphasized that the findings point to “unconstitutional government censorship.”
“Whether you agree with this speech or not,” Jordan wrote, “free speech is free speech and the Biden Admin pressured private companies to censor constitutionally protected speech.”
Jordan exposed emails from Amazon discussing the censorship effort earlier this year.
In one email, senior Biden White House official Andy Slavitt wrote, “Who can we talk to about the high levels of propaganda and misinformation and disinformation of Amazon?”
An Amazon employee responded, “As a retailer, we provide our customers with access to a variety of viewpoints, including books that some customers may find objectionable. All booksellers make decisions about what selection they choose to offer and we do not take selection decisions lightly.”
The company later met with administration officials, pressured by the White House to remove books relating to vaccines.
