Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is taking a stand for free speech. Or is he?
The Washington Post owner’s editorial decree rocked journalism. Bezo instructed the Post’s opinion section to hyper-focus on free markets and personal liberties. Naturally, the paper’s far-left journalists cried out in pain.
One quit on the spot.
Learn to code…
WaPo Editor Quits After Bezos Orders Opinion Page to Defend Free Markets, Personal Liberty https://t.co/gkYf9ZTeMG
— Rep. Scott Perry (@RepScottPerry) February 26, 2025
That speaks volumes as to where journalists stand on core U.S. values today.
No one should be surprised, though. Consider how CBS News now embraces speech police in the modern era.
We could cheer Bezos’ decree, and many are doing just that.
Look closer.
Bezos’ Amazon has routinely censored art that didn’t fit the progressive narrative. Just ask filmmaker and journalist Mike Cernovich.
That’s a wonderful sentiment, @JeffBezos. Would you mind sharing it with Amazon? They banned my movie Hoaxed without explanation. When a new distributor re-released it, Amazon pulled it again.
Why? pic.twitter.com/FS1G03Oxr1
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) February 26, 2025
Cernovich says Amazon banned his 2019 documentary “Hoaxed” not once but twice. HiT previously reported on the matter.
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Director Eli Steele’s compelling 2020 documentary “What Killed Michael Brown?” nearly suffered the same fate. Amazon’s editorial team initially blocked the film’s release on the platform, citing its so-called poor quality.
Steele’s films feature solid craftsmanship and nuanced narratives. A quick media storm erupted and Amazon backpedaled.
The mega platform initially agreed to stream director Michael Pack’s “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words.” The 2020 movie debuted on PBS and let the reclusive Supreme Court justice share his inspirational story.
Then, without warning, Amazon removed the documentary from its platform during Black History Month.
No explanation.
Filmmaker Robby Starbuck ran into a more recent Amazon roadblock. The anti-DEI activist’s film, “The War on Children,” got blocked by Amazon’s censors last year. The documentary examines the sexualization of children in the modern era.
Good luck finding it on Amazon’s streaming marketplace. It’s also unavailable to buy in DVD form.
Still.
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Need more?
Author Jack Posobiec’s book, “Bulletproof,” initially featured the wrong book cover on its official Amazon page last year. The tome recalled the assassination attempt against then-candidate Trump.
Director Amanda Milius’ 2020 documentary “The Plot Against the President” faced an Amazon approval delay that caught the attention of a Legacy Media outlet. The film excoriated the Russian Collusion Hoax before many news outlets caught up with the truth.
That delay mattered.
Milius’ team slated the film for an October release, hoping to educate voters in the runup to the presidential election.
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Some of these cases didn’t get legacy media attention. Bezos is a very busy man, so it’s possible he never learned about his company’s censorship practices.
Possible, but unlikely. He couldn’t have missed these censorship stories.
The company banned Ryan Anderson’s “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment” in 2021. Amazon deemed material disparaging the trans agenda “hate speech,” although users could order Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” both then and now.
Amazon also censored books critical of the COVID-19 vaccines following pressure by the Biden administration.
Perhaps Bezos’s decree reflects a genuine change of heart. We’ve seen Mark Zuckerberg do an about-face regarding Facebook’s biased fact-checking regime in the wake of Donald Trump’s Nov. 5 victory.
The Amazon billionaire may have similarly seen the light. Or, his decree is an attempt to trick free speech believers across the fruited plain.
Editor’s Note: It’s a brutal time to be an independent journalist, but it’s never been more necessary given the sorry state of the corporate press. If you’re enjoying Hollywood in Toto, I hope you’ll consider leaving a coin (or two) in our Tip Jar.
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