Staff Reports
Mark Dice says Amazon pulled his bestselling book, then quietly put it back and called the move “an error.” The book, The War on Conservatives, was removed after two appeals were denied, Dice says, and thousands of ratings and reviews vanished before being restored. Amazon’s short explanation — “this title was removed in error” — leaves far more questions than answers, and Dice is accusing the company of politically motivated censorship while lamenting that most conservative media barely blinked.
Amazon book ban: What Amazon said — and what it didn’t say
Amazon’s public line is simple: “this title was removed in error.” But the appeal messages Dice says he received used vague enforcement language, including a claim the book violated “content policies” and that it “might result in a disappointing customer experience.” Those phrases are the industry’s catch‑alls. They don’t explain who flagged the book, what policy was allegedly violated, why two appeals were denied, or why the listing and thousands of reviews disappeared in the first place.
Why this matters: Amazon’s chokehold on conservative books
Amazon controls roughly 60–70% of U.S. online book sales, so a removal there is not a tiny inconvenience — it can cost authors sales, reviews, and visibility. When ratings and a bestseller badge vanish, it’s like erasing a book’s history. We’ve seen similar episodes before where controversial titles were yanked and only returned after attention. That pattern makes “removed in error” sound less like a slip and more like damage control after someone noticed the blowback.
Conservative media’s shrug — and why that’s a problem
Dice says he reached out to many conservative reporters and outlets and got almost no response — beyond one outlet that pushed the story. If conservatives only call out censorship when it hits big brands inside their own club, then the fight against big‑tech censorship is performative. Real defense of free speech means defending the lone author, the small publisher, and the independent YouTuber — not just the familiar names on your Rolodex.
What conservatives should demand next
Demand transparency from Amazon: a timeline, copies of the appeal responses, and a clear explanation of what triggered the removal. Conservative media should cover these incidents consistently, not selectively. Independent authors need to document takedowns and publish appeal correspondence so patterns become visible. If we want to beat back opaque censorship, we can start by treating every takedown as newsworthy — especially when the official answer is “an error” and the real story smells like politics.
