You’d be surprised what it censors, often just telling would-be customers that the book is out of stock

Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto offers an analysis of censorship at Amazon. Among their findings, this one stands out: “To justify why restricted products cannot be shipped, Amazon uses varying error messages such as by conveying that an item is temporarily out of stock.”

So, if you get such a message, check whether the book is protested by a pressure group with a lot of clout before you assume that it is really out of stock.

The censorship is real. In the transgender wars, for example, Amazon apparently still does not sell When Harry Became Sally (Encounter 2019) by Ryan Anderson. They admitted it in 2021 and in 2024, your writer searched repeatedly in vain.

But you can buy it at Barnes and Noble.

Other findings:

Banned books were largely related to LGBTIQ, the occult, erotica, Christianity, and health and wellness. The regions affected by this censorship were the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and many other Middle Eastern countries as well as Brunei Darussalam, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, and Zambia. In our test sample, Amazon censored over 1.1% of the books sold on amazon.com in at least one of these regions.

We identified three major censorship blocklists which Amazon assigns to different regions. In numerous cases, the resulting censorship is either overly broad or miscategorized. Examples include the restriction of books relating to breast cancer, recipe books invoking “food porn” euphemisms, Nietzsche’s Gay Science, and “rainbow” Mentos candy.

Jeffrey Knockel, Jakub Dalek, Noura Aljizawi, Mohamed Ahmed, Levi Meletti, and Justin Lau,“ Banned Books,” November 25, 2024

“Food porn” euphemisms? Someone has had too much coffee maybe.

Anyway, don’t suppose that Amazon censorship can’t affect your reading choices. And don’t depend on Amazon. Always have alternatives.