Dem presses Amazon on anti-vaccine products
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) in a letter on Friday pressed Amazon over the popular anti-vaccination products sold on its online store, accusing the retail giant of allowing “harmful” content to “thrive and spread.”
“There is strong evidence to suggest that at least part of the source of this trend is the degree to which medically inaccurate information about vaccines surface on the websites where many Americans get their information, among them Amazon,” Schiff, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, wrote in the letter addressed to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
Schiff raised concerns about Amazon’s algorithms, citing reports that the platform recommends anti-vaccine or vaccine-skeptical books and movies even when people do not actively seek them out.
The bulk of Amazon’s best-selling and top-rated books in the “vaccines” category promote anti-vaccine messaging.
Amazon’s book-selling guidelines do not specify how to handle the spread of misinformation that poses a public health risk. A company spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that Amazon has received Schiff’s letter and is currently reviewing it.