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Amazon UK takes action on racist messages in listings

Amazon Prime logo is displayed on a mobile phone screen photographed on surgical masks background for illustration photo during the spread of coronavirus. Krakow, Poland on April 26, 2020.  (Photo Illustration by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Photo: Illustration by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Amazon (AMZN) said it was mobilising against “bad actors” and removing certain images after messages using extremely strong racist abuse appeared on some UK listings.

The abuse appeared on popular products such as Apple’s (AAPL) AirPods and other similar products.

“AirPods” began to trend on Twitter (TWTR) in the UK, alongside screengrabs and videos of the website, as outrage spread.

“We are removing the images in question and have taken action on the bad actor,” an Amazon spokeswoman told Reuters. The company didn’t give further details of the “bad actor.”

The listings including the abuse are no longer visible on Amazon UK — it’s unclear how long they were live for or of how many products were defaced.

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Amazon’s UK domain was recently added to the US trade regulator’s “notorious markets” report on marketplaces known for counterfeiting and privacy concerns.

The e-commerce giant strongly disagreed with the report at the time, calling the move a “purely political act.”

Amazon has also been dealing with price-gouging on its site, having removed more than 500,000 listings that bumped up the price of products to unfair levels. Many had been circumventing the measures already in place by listing products as “collectible.”

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