Amazon, Google and Wish pull racist products after investigation
Major internet retailers still have an issue with racist products in their stores. Amazon, Google and Wish have removed white supremacist products on sale through their platforms after a BBC Click investigation revealed numerous examples. The online portals not only sold flags, hoods and other neo-Nazi and KKK material, but recommended similar products to shoppers.
The three companies all said they ban racist products, but didn’t explain in detail how they would prevent further racist goods from appearing. They also pulled material linked to the “boogaloo” movement, whose more extreme members have been linked to real-world threats and violence.
The discovery highlights problems with keeping merchants from listing hateful material and with the recommendation algorithms. While policies can prevent some products from slipping through, it’s evident others still get through. The algorithms, meanwhile, run the risk of suggesting racist content and further enabling those who profit from it. It may be difficult to completely remove these items, but this suggests there’s still room for improvement.
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