Two Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are asking Amazon to answer to allegations of “systemic viewpoint-based discrimination” against conservative viewpoints.
In a letter to current Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.) requested that the prominent cloud services provider turn over documents and information on its alleged censorship activities.
“Big Tech, including Amazon, is engaged in systematic viewpoint-based discrimination. In the unfortunate phenomenon of ‘cancel culture,’ Amazon plays a leading role in silencing and censoring the political speech of conservative Americans,” the lawmakers wrote.
They added, “In just the last several months, Amazon has exhibited a pattern of curtailing, censoring, and removing from its platforms content that espouses conservative viewpoints.”
Jordan is the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee and Buck is the top Republican on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust.
The two allege that Amazon has been “exerting editorial control” over content on its platforms in a way that is “biased against conservatives and conservative viewpoints.”
They listed out several alleged editorial decisions by Amazon that “give the appearance of a coordinated effort to cancel conservative speech” on the big tech company’s platforms.
Three incidences occurred in June 2020. In one instance, Amazon “refused to allow” advertising for a book that was critical of transgender ideology, the two noted. In another case, Amazon’s Kindle e-book self-publishing platform refused to publish a booklet that challenged certain prevailing views on the efficacy of lockdowns imposed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In yet another instance of the same month, Amazon temporarily banned President Donald Trump’s account from its video streaming service, Twitch, over comments he made at political rallies. Amazon later disabled Trump’s account indefinitely from Twitch after the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.
Another incident cited by the two GOP Reps include Amazon’s de-platforming of Parler, a competitor to social platform Twitter, that is popular among conservatives.
Jordan and Buck asked the company to produce documents by 5 p.m. on March 25 on seven alleged cases of censorship against conservative viewpoints.
Amazon and Bezos didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from The Epoch Times. Bezos earlier this year said he is set to step down as CEO in the fall, to be replaced by Andy Jassy, who currently runs the company’s cloud computing business.
Judiciary Committee chair Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Antitrust Subcommittee chair Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), were copied on the letter.
The letter to Amazon comes just over a week after Jordan called on Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, to hold a public committee hearing on “cancel culture,” which would be the first of its kind. Nadler’s office at the time did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.
Source: Theepochtimes
