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The role of censorship that the government used to have has shifted to companies like Visa, Mastercard, Amazon, etc. If you try and sell a spicy enough book, th

The role of censorship that the government used to have has shifted to companies like Visa, Mastercard, Amazon, etc. If you try and sell a spicy enough book, they will make sure nobody reads it, and the government can be completely "hands-off". They can fail to process the customer's payment, remove your book from the marketplace, and ban your account. If you try to build your own marketplace, you won't be able to use any major payment processors. Modern dissidents are building alternatives, but still there are roadblocks. All this to say, books are still very much being suppressed.

ahtihn 3y ago
Do you have any examples of books where this is the case? I can believe that there are books that Amazon won't carry but I don't believe that there are books that Credit Card networks won't deal with.
- tmaly 3y ago
  For a short while the book "The Citizen's Guide to Fifth Generation Warfare" was being suppressed on Amazon. People complained and it was quickly made available again.
  - tivert 3y ago
    Some quick googling also brought up a couple more examples: A book critical of COVID lockdowns was pulled in 2020: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/06/04/amazon-coronavirus-book-ban/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/06/04/amazon-... (https://archive.is/2hZ1o https://archive.is/2hZ1o). A book critical of the transgender movement was pulled in 2021: https://www.wsj.com/articles/republican-senators-send-letter-to-jeff-bezos-asking-why-amazon-pulled-book-by-conservative-author-11614212331 https://www.wsj.com/articles/republican-senators-send-letter... (https://archive.is/6u6ES https://archive.is/6u6ES)
- lfmunoz4 3y ago
  [dead]
- qorrect 3y ago
  I think he was referencing building your own marketplace, they will blacklist you so you won't be able to accept CC payments.
- jkeat 3y ago
  not books but related: last year PayPal shut down the accounts of Consortium News and MintPress News https://jacobin.com/2022/05/paypal-independent-media-journalism-censorship-tech https://jacobin.com/2022/05/paypal-independent-media-journal...

ahtihn 3y ago

Do you have any examples of books where this is the case? I can believe that there are books that Amazon won't carry but I don't believe that there are books that Credit Card networks won't deal with.

tmaly 3y ago
For a short while the book "The Citizen's Guide to Fifth Generation Warfare" was being suppressed on Amazon. People complained and it was quickly made available again.
- tivert 3y ago
  Some quick googling also brought up a couple more examples: A book critical of COVID lockdowns was pulled in 2020: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/06/04/amazon-coronavirus-book-ban/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/06/04/amazon-... (https://archive.is/2hZ1o https://archive.is/2hZ1o). A book critical of the transgender movement was pulled in 2021: https://www.wsj.com/articles/republican-senators-send-letter-to-jeff-bezos-asking-why-amazon-pulled-book-by-conservative-author-11614212331 https://www.wsj.com/articles/republican-senators-send-letter... (https://archive.is/6u6ES https://archive.is/6u6ES)
lfmunoz4 3y ago
[dead]
qorrect 3y ago
I think he was referencing building your own marketplace, they will blacklist you so you won't be able to accept CC payments.
jkeat 3y ago
not books but related: last year PayPal shut down the accounts of Consortium News and MintPress News https://jacobin.com/2022/05/paypal-independent-media-journalism-censorship-tech https://jacobin.com/2022/05/paypal-independent-media-journal...