Amazon Bans Books On Gay 'Conversion Therapy' | Eastern NC Now

    Publisher's note: This informational nugget was sent to me by Ben Shapiro, who represents the Daily Wire, and since this is one of the most topical news events, it should be published on BCN.

    This article was written by Paul Bois.

    A grown, fully-autonomous adult who has an unwanted same-sex attraction and who willingly seeks out information on how to curtail that desire without any outside pressure whatsoever will not be allowed to do so on Amazon's platform, which has now banned several books on therapy for such people.

    "Amazon has removed the books of Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, the psychologist whom critics have dubbed 'the father of conversion therapy,'" reports LifeSiteNews. "In other words, for claiming that change is possible for those who experience unwanted same-sex attraction, Dr. Nicolosi's books must be banned."

    Nicolosi was the co-founder of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality. He died in 2017. Amazon reportedly pulled his books after one man, Rojo Alan of England, pushed them into doing so.

    "The main book in question was one called 'A Parents Guide To Preventing Homosexuality' by Joseph Nicolosi," reports Pink News. "Rojo Alan wrote to Amazon several times asking it to remove Nicolosi's books. After receiving no response, Alan made a Facebook post on May 31 calling for Amazon and Wordery to take down 'a number of homophobic books.' Wordery, according to Alan, responded within 24 hours and removed the books from its listings."

    Amazon, however, did not initially ban the books because they did not violate their rules. Nevertheless, Alan persisted and began demanding people on social media bombard the books with bad reviews while researching ways in which the books violated Amazon's rules on publishing.

    "So since then, I had been working on getting these books pulled," Alan told Pink News. "I contacted Amazon regularly to speak to them about the books, about how unethical they are."

    "Once I gathered everything I went back to Amazon and I threw all the information I had at them in several conversations," he continued. "Yet I was given the same 'we will refer this to the relevant team.'"

    As of July 2, all of Nicolosi's books on Amazon were banned. "I'm currently in Starbucks, I'm so close to crying that all my efforts seem to have paid off," he said.

    Recently, Amazon banned several anti-vaxx documentaries from its platform on the same grounds. The move came hours after Rep. Adam Schiff wrote an open letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos saying he is concerned "'that Amazon is surfacing and recommending' anti-vaccination books and movies."

    Movies like "We Don't Vaccinate!," "Shoot 'Em Up: The Truth About Vaccines," and "Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe," were offered to Amazon Prime members. They are now unavailable.

    "As the largest online marketplace in the world, Amazon is in a unique position to shape consumption," Schiff wrote in the letter to Amazon. "The algorithms which power social media platforms and Amazon's recommendations are not designed to distinguish quality information from misinformation or misleading information and, as a result, harmful anti-vaccine messages have been able to thrive and spread. The consequences are particularly troubling for public health issues."

    "I am concerned by the report that Amazon accepts paid advertising that contains deliberate misinformation about vaccines; promoting these advertisements as suggested content ahead of intended search results," Schiff continued. "Every online platform, including Amazon, must act responsibly and ensure that they do not contribute to this growing public health catastrophe."