Amazon said on Monday it was removing products that promote QAnon, an unfounded conspiracy, from its website after QAnon supporters stood out in the Capitol riot last week.
The move came after Amazon’s decision to boot Parler, a right-wing social network, from its web servers and cloud services.
About 60% of the products sold on Amazon are offered by third parties, who list the items on the website and usually use the company’s advertising and delivery services. Flags, shirts, hats and other merchandise, as well as self-published books promoting QAnon, still appeared in a poll on Monday afternoon, many with favorable reviews from customers and indications that they were sent to customers at Amazon’s warehouses. Amazon said removing items could take several days.
Amazon’s policies prohibit products that “promote, incite or glorify hatred or violence against any person or group”, although it has faced criticism for not promptly applying its own rules. If salespeople try to escape detection systems, they risk losing their ability to sell on the site entirely.