This archive report was first published on 2 December 2019.
On Sunday, Amazon removed holiday ornaments, a bottle opener, and other products from its marketplace that displayed images of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, following a social media post by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland.
The museum shared images of the products on Twitter, prompting widespread outrage and calls for Amazon to remove the items. In a tweet, the museum described the ornaments as 'inappropriate' and the bottle opener as 'rather disturbing and disrespectful.'
Within hours, the post was shared thousands of times, prompting angry replies and questions about how Amazon vets the products sold through its platforms. By Sunday night, none of the products appeared to be available for purchase.
Amazon removed the products and stated that 'all sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who do not will be subject to action, including potential removal of their account.'
Amazon's policy on offensive and controversial materials prohibits products 'related to human tragedies,' but the company decides which products are appropriate by considering a 'global community of customers and cultural differences and sensitivities.'
The incident is not the first time Amazon has faced criticism for allowing hate groups to sell merchandise on its platform. In July 2018, two nonprofit groups reported that shoppers could buy onesies for babies stamped with alt-right images, Nazi-themed action figures, and anti-Semitic books and music.
Under pressure from lawmakers, Amazon said it would not let third-party retailers sell products that feature Nazi and white nationalist symbolism on its platform. However, the sheer volume of items being sold on Amazon through third-party sellers makes it challenging to identify and remove all offensive items before they are found by the public.
