Amazon Yanks Pedophile "Guidebook" After Twitter Storm
Filed under: In The News
"The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure" is no longer available on Amazon. Credit: Amazon
The link led her not to an illegal pornographic website, but instead to the online mega-retailer Amazon.com, where the "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure" was available for instant download for the Kindle for $4.79. The e-book appears to have been yanked from the site as of Nov. 11, after the issue went viral and many, including Connors, called for a boycott.
"To say that I was horrified would be a dramatic understatement," Connors tells ParentDish. "It really actually needed a trigger warning."
Connors, a Canadian mom of two who lives in Toronto, took her outrage to the Internet, where she used her significant social media clout to alert other moms that Amazon.com is selling a how-to book for child abuse. Connors is the author of the popular "Her Bad Mother" parenting blog, and her take on motherhood has garnered her more than 9,000 Twitter followers.
Immediately, Connors began blasting the retailer for allowing the e-book to be sold, using the hashtag #amazonfail, which allows all Twitter users to track the conversation.
"Please boycott @amazon until this (TRIGGER WARNING) pedophilia instruction manual gets removed http://amzn.to/9SKcJi #amazonfail," she tweeted.
Connors tells ParentDish that she did attempt to reach Amazon directly, but every avenue led to a customer service form or a 1-800 number.
She was looking for more immediate attention, and so she turned to Twitter. She decided to tweet about it, she says, because it is an issue about which no one should remain silent.
"The abuse of children thrives on silence," she says. "The sexual abuse of children especially thrives on silence. I think that we need to be outspoken and unsilent on anything that supports or perpetuates the abuse of children."
The e-book does appear to do just that. The product description reads: "This is my attempt to make pedophile situations safer for those juveniles that find themselves involved in them, by establishing certain rules for these adults to follow. I hope to achieve this by appealing to the better nature of pedosexuals, with hope that their doing so will result in less hatred and perhaps liter sentences should they ever be caught."
Connors says she's had "some weird blow-back" from Twitter users, some of whom are calling this a free speech issue. That hasn't deterred her, however. Nor has the argument that using a medium like Twitter to call out major brands isn't always the best way to make your case.
"As I said, the sexual abuse of children thrives on silence," she says. "I can't see one reason why anyone should be silent on this issue. Amazon's reputation doesn't trump the safety of children, sorry."
Amazon could not be reached for comment, but TechCrunch reports that the company released a statement Nov. 10 about the matter: "Amazon believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable. Amazon does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts, however, we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions."
According to AOL News, Amazon has not issued an updated statement as of Nov. 11, but the e-book appears to no longer be for sale. Users can still search for the title, but clicking on the link results in an error message.
Negative reviews about the e-book, which rolled in on Amazon.com after the Twitter storm, are also no longer accessible. However, ParentDish captured the following review from user L. Stauber before the page disappeared: "There is no excuse for Amazon to be offering this product. It clearly promotes an illegal activity and it is offensive. I've removed my Amazon shop from my website and won't be doing any Christmas or household shopping through Amazon.com until this product is GONE."
Discussion about the e-book can still be found on the site's forums.
Editor's note: This story was updated Nov. 11.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
11-10-2010 @ 5:54PM
margita said...I can agree with this I have been insulted, put in my place and cursed out for speaking against pedophilia,(child rape or molestation) I'm sorry I'm not being a prude and neither is this mother, maybe they could use the reciepts from this book to prosecute offenders. Pedophiles don't love their victims that's comical they use and toss away like kleenex many sexual abuse victims require intensive therapy and will suffer from nightmares for life. I will speak out against the evils of pedophilia and I don't care if i offend pro pedophile supporters b/c at least I'll know who to avoid like the plague
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11-12-2010 @ 2:55PM
Averagedancer said...I just finished sending Amazon.ca an email about this. In effect, I told them I would not do business with them, while they promoted pedophilia, under the guise of free speech. I hope everyone who reads this article does the same.
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11-11-2010 @ 7:53AM
Alicia said...Yet another reason to boycott Amazon. I find it interesting that they'll hide all materials about homosexuality but will sell a how-to guide to child molestation. At least the former involves two consensual adults. Get your story straight, Amazon.
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11-11-2010 @ 8:35AM
Ava said...This story has shocked and upset me to the core. I'm in the UK, and cannot BELIEVE that such a sick, horrific book exists (for cheap download no less) and that amazon has absolutely no moral responsibility or integrity in desiring to stop it. I too will not shop with them until they remove it...it seems, from looking at the reviewer comment by Stauber at the bottom of the article above, that it is now unavailable, but clearly that was from social pressure and bad press for them, not becqasue they showed Any moral or indeed Human responsibility as a multi-billion dollar global. company.
I am in full agreement with all the comments above but was also quite shocked with margita's point that there are such a thing as pro pedophile supporters (!) That peadophiles exist is revolting and they are monsters, every one of them (there are NO excuses for sexualising a child EVER) - the fact that some people in any way (e.g. Amazon) overtly or through lack of action support them is utterly horrific. It would be like having pro-serial killer people around. Such a 'person' is not a member of the human race, no matter how they try and convince themselves and others to allow such horror.
I also can't stand it when people use the old " free speech" argument as some sort of moral guidepost...ESP from a mutli-billion company like Amazon. Such hypocrisy is revolting. Well done for the original mother to take this on (but also why Was such a link in the the original twitter link her friend had up - how did that happen?)
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11-13-2010 @ 1:50PM
Silver said...I will no longer be doing business with amazon books, And I will notify my friends of the illegal pedophilia book their selling . I would think amazon books had more character than this But this shows their greed and their dishonesty at the expense of others, I can practically guarantee sales will drop for amazon books untill they clean up their act!!!
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11-11-2010 @ 10:08AM
uvolttafrancis said...Dear Amazon,
You have just messed up. Because of your stupidity I had to cancel a order with you guys of over 1,500 dollars. In addition, the thousands of dollars I was planning on spending for the holidays has just been canceled as well as my business in general. I loved you guys be you are certainly not irreplaceable. I guess I will have to give my money to Overstock.com or my local retailers.
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11-11-2010 @ 1:32PM
Kate Moore said...I’d like to address this message to Mr. Jeffrey P. Bezos, founding father of Amazon.com. Re: that new book you’re marketing that glamorizes the crime of pedophilia. Get a Spine! You are not bound by law to bow to the mindless echoing of those who claim that the heinous, offensive, repulsive, depraved, destructive, stinking, ugly, vile, corruption of this sexual perversion should be allowed to take its place on the open market — simply by crying “censorship”.
Show your worth by digging into the core of your being and choosing to pull that book from stock. Only then will my family and I return to purchasing from Amazon.com.
Remember, "The Only Thing Necessary for Evil to Triumph is for Good Men to do Nothing" —Edmund Burke
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11-12-2010 @ 9:29AM
Shelia Bradley Smith said...Thank you for doing what we did on Facebook. We stormed the networks and called for a boycott and even got the petitions started. We will never allow this trash to reach anyone and Amazon should have ethically considered those of us with kidnapped family members. For those that believe it covers"free speech", what would have happened if I had published and attempted to sell it on amazon" How to catch and kill a predator". I may have been arrested for such a thing. I have kidnapped nieces Diamond and Tionda Bradley and these attempted attacks on our children must be stopped. Our children are defenseless and we must not allow predators to harm our children any longer. Thank GOD for all our supporters and amazon should have learned a valuable lesson.
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11-11-2010 @ 10:24PM
Josie Starnella said...So many people are saying they will not do business with Amazon while they carry this book. How about, I will never do business with Amazon again, ever. Children are too important. I don't give a crap about free speech and I think anyone who tries to hide behind free speech in order to sell a book about the sexual abuse of children should burn in hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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11-12-2010 @ 12:23AM
TraumaRN said...I feel EXACTLY the same. Even though the book has been pulled I will never do business with Amazon again.
11-12-2010 @ 6:21AM
Ava said...Yes. absolutely agree!
11-11-2010 @ 10:26PM
Lana Boiler said...I think we should let the pediaphiles buy their own book ( Just not from amazon....) insert a tracking device or register their name, then let the CIA and FBI keep tabs on those who bought the books.....and follow the monsters around, thus knowing who and where these pediaphiles are...
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11-12-2010 @ 6:19AM
Ava said...I posted about this yesterday (how disgusting and horrific it is) and the huff post has an article about it today - with the unbeliveable fact that "In 2009, Amazon stopped selling "RapeLay," a first-person video game in which the protagonist stalks and then rapes a mother and her daughters, after it was widely condemned in the media and by various interest groups." !!????????
Further that "The author of "The Pedophile's Guide" still has other titles sold through Amazon"
I'm sorry, but the man's name and place of residence is available to police - you don't write a book like this unless you ARE a peadophile...he should be arrested and his computer/hardrive/ current activities etc looked into immediately. According to news reports the book is supposedly written from a 'first person' (the child's) account.....it makes your blood run cold. How anyone could think it, let alone write about it would have to have actual experience either abusing a child or supporting other's to do so. This is a CRIME in every sense of the word - it's not remotely, as the spinless amazon director said, "about free speech". The Police/Child crime specialists should also follow up on every one who HAS downloaded/bought a copy and investigate them as well.
The whole thing makes me want to scream with frustration and rage. As a mother I would go out of my mind if someone cam Near my kids, and the thought that there are children - vulnerable, alone, scared, hurting - out there while a multi-billion company like AMAZON supports it actually blows the mind.
At least there was one tiny hopeful point - that "Shares of Amazon, which is based in Seattle, fell $2.96, or 1.7 percent, to close Thursday at $170.37" - so even though the directors at Amazon are revolting excuses for human beings most people (and shoppers at amazon) are not!
I wish there would be some comment from child protection/police specialists about what they plan to do about this man (if anything????)
I hope Parentdish continues to follow this story and to bring attention and pressure to it. The fact that the book has been pulled, while the author is allowed to have other titles online and to walk around free is horrific.
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