Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) posted on X/Twitter on Monday “never before publicized internal emails” that had been subpoenaed by House Judiciary Republicans and “Amazon Files.” It was named. He pressured Amazon to censor books that expressed views the White House disapproved of. ”
“Internal documents subpoenaed by @JudiciaryGOP and @Weaponization show @amazon bowed to pressure from the Biden White House to censor books,” Rep. Jordan announced at the beginning of the X/Twitter thread. did.
Amazon Files – “Feeling pressure from the White House”
Subpoena for internal documents @judiciaryGOP & @weaponized show it @Amazon It bowed to President Biden’s pressure to censor books.
thread:
— Congressman Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) February 5, 2024
The lawmaker followed up with screenshots of internal emails, one of which read, “Hello everyone. This is a memo from today’s briefing with the White House.”
Below that is an agenda item titled “Book Curation and Guidelines 101,” and below that is “Is the admin asking for books to be removed, or in search results and/or order?” “
Andy Slavitt, a senior Biden official who called on Facebook to censor memes and truthful information, was also pressuring Amazon.https://t.co/vOgRkBNFmW
— Congressman Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) February 5, 2024
In another post, Rep. Jordan highlighted an internal email from March 2021. In the email, Andy Slavitt, a senior Biden official, requested to know who he and his colleagues in the Biden administration could talk to at Amazon about content he did not approve on the website.
US President Joe Biden (Photo by Brian Lawless/PA Images via Getty Images)
“Who can I talk to about Amazon’s sophisticated propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation?” an internal email read.
The congressman also noted that President Biden “performed keyword searches on controversial topics” such as “vaccines” and emailed Amazon if he didn’t like how the search results were displayed.
“If you search for ‘vaccine’ in a book, you’ll see what comes up. I haven’t seen much more than that, but if it’s on the surface, that’s concerning.” From Slavitt It was written in the email.
How did the Biden White House conclude that there was “propaganda and misinformation” in the books sold in Amazon’s bookstore?
The White House ran keyword searches for controversial topics such as “vaccines,” and if it didn’t like how the search results were displayed, it sent an email to Amazon saying: pic.twitter.com/FmVYPJQR6n
— Congressman Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) February 5, 2024
Amazon initially decided to refrain from “human intervention” in censoring books, not out of concerns for free speech, but censorship could make the content “too visible” to the American public, leading to increased criticism. This was because the company felt that Rep. Jordan said the information came from conservative media.
“We will not be doing any manual intervention today. The team/public relations feel very strongly that it would be too noticeable and further complicate the Harry and Sally story (apparently given today’s FOX News treatment. ), the long-term problem is not resolved due to its relevance to customer behavior,” an internal email from Amazon staff said.
The Amazon employee went on to say, “I asked my team to expand the search light flag for the COVID-19 CDC website redirect so that it appears at the top of the page for more search keys. “Hopefully it will be implemented today,” he said, adding, “WH will probably ask why they don’t tag content like they do on FB and Twitter if they don’t delete it.”
In another post, the congressman pointed to an email in which an Amazon staffer explained that “we believe retailers are different from the social media community,” adding, “As a retailer, we provide our customers with a variety of perspectives. “We provide access to books that some customers may find offensive.”
Why was the Biden White House so angry with Amazon?
Because Amazon believes that “retailers are different from social media communities” and provides “customers with access to a variety of perspectives.”
For the Biden administration, forcing Americans to think for themselves was unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/tKjBTesZoU
— Congressman Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) February 5, 2024
A week later, Amazon met with President Biden, Rep. Jordan said in a follow-up post.
Internal documents reveal Amazon’s “key talking points” ahead of talks with the White House, including whether the Biden administration wants to ban certain books or whether they will be buried deep in search results. The question also included whether they wanted to do so.
So how did the meeting between Amazon and President Biden go?
— Congressman Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) February 5, 2024
The congressman said Amazon agreed to the talks because it was “feeling pressure from the White House.”
“The book team will meet on March 19th. [redacted], [redacted]and [redacted] “The purpose is to take a closer look at books related to vaccine misinformation and discuss additional steps Amazon may take to reduce awareness of these books,” Amazon’s internal email said. has been written.
“The Book Content Risk Management Team continues to prepare documents for its March 19th meeting,” the email continued, adding, “PP is also feeling pressure from the White House Task Force on this issue. There is,” he added.
In another post, the Ohio congressman highlighted an internal email stating that an Amazon employee “enabled a ban on the promotion of anti-vaccine books.”
What did online booksellers do after the White House spent a week criticizing Amazon?
Starting on March 9, the same day as the meeting with the White House, Amazon began allowing companies to “de-promote” books expressing the view that vaccines are ineffective. pic.twitter.com/8YEXjAL8BD
— Congressman Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) February 5, 2024
“Amazon has bowed to President Biden’s pressure to censor speech,” Jordan concluded in his thread, adding that the House Judiciary Republicans and the Weaponization Committee are “investigating.”
That is correct.
Amazon has bowed to pressure from President Biden to censor speech. @judiciaryGOP and @weaponized under investigation.https://t.co/P1hlB3c5WO
— Congressman Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) February 5, 2024
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