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This is my *shocked* face: Amazon turns over policing of its charity program to SPLC

This is my *shocked* face: Amazon turns over policing of its charity program to SPLC

I *never* saw that one coming.

We got kicked out of the Amazon Associates program for reasons that remain unknown.

Amazon told us that its “criteria” used to kick us out were proprietary. Amazon would not provide evidence of our alleged Operating Agreement violations to us or to the Daily Caller News Foundation, which was investigating the story.

I noted in my prior post a concern about how we were treated based on Amazon kicking Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) out of another Amazon program, the SMILE program for charities, where Amazon customers can designate a charity to receive a percentage of whatever the customer spends. ADF, in case you were unaware, has won a string of U.S. Supreme Court religious freedom cases, including the Colorado bakery case that was just decided.

Yet ADF was kicked out of the SMILE program because it has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Relying on SPLC’s evaluation of groups reflects a corporate political culture that is hostile to conservatives.

https://twitter.com/DavidAFrench/status/1003799756412477440

As readers are aware from dozens of our prior posts, SPLC has become a primary tool to attack conservatives and stifle speech through its hate and extremist lists. Those lists are highly politicized, including in the past people such as Rand Paul, Ben Carson and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Being designated a hate group or extremist by SPLC can spell the end of campus and other appearances. In the case of the Family Research Council, it led to violence when an SPLC follower used the list as the basis to attempt a shooting at FRC headquarters.

An August 2017 Politico Magazine article, in which I was quoted, highlighted how SPLC has become politicized,  Has a Civil Rights Stalwart Lost Its Way?:

William Jacobson, a law professor at Cornell and critic of the SPLC, says the group has wrapped itself in the mantle of the civil rights struggle to engage in partisan political crusading. “Time and again, I see the SPLC using the reputation it gained decades ago fighting the Klan as a tool to bludgeon mainstream politically conservative opponents,” he says. “For groups that do not threaten violence, the use of SPLC ‘hate group’ or ‘extremist’ designations frequently are exploited as an excuse to silence speech and speakers,” Jacobson adds. “It taints not only the group or person, but others who associate with them.”

SPLC has lost its credibility as being anything other than a weaponized left-wing political activism group intent on shutting down political opposition. Nonetheless, many of the internet oligopolies use SPLC as part of their “hate speech” monitoring.

But no group has gone as far as Amazon in actually turning over control to SPLC, according to a Daily Caller report:

Four of the world’s biggest tech platforms have working partnerships with a left-wing nonprofit that has a track record of inaccuracies and routinely labels conservative organizations as “hate groups.”

Facebook, Amazon, Google and Twitter all work with or consult the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in policing their platforms for “hate speech” or “hate groups,” a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found….

Of the four companies, Amazon gives the SPLC the most direct authority over its platform, TheDCNF found.

While Facebook emphasizes its independence from the SPLC, Amazon does the opposite: Jeff Bezos’ company grants the SPLC broad policing power over the Amazon Smile charitable program, while claiming to remain unbiased.

“We remove organizations that the SPLC deems as ineligible,” an Amazon spokeswoman told TheDCNF.

Amazon grants the SPLC that power “because we don’t want to be biased whatsoever,” said the spokeswoman, who could not say whether Amazon considers the SPLC to be unbiased.

The Smile program allows customers to identify a charity to receive 0.5 percent of the proceeds from their purchases on Amazon. Customers have given more than $8 million to charities through the program since 2013, according to Amazon.

Only one participant in the program, the SPLC, gets to determine which other groups are allowed to join it.

Christian legal groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom — which recently successfully represented a Christian baker at the Supreme Court — are barred from the Amazon Smile program, while openly anti-Semitic groups remain, TheDCNF found in May.

One month later, the anti-Semitic groups — but not the Alliance Defending Freedom — are still able to participate in the program.

Consider this my *shocked* face that Amazon would turn over policing to SPLC. I *never* saw that one coming.

[Featured Image: Me observing the Cornell “Take a Knee” Protest]

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Comments

Does Planned Parenthood (an oxymoron is ever there was one) have an Amazon Associate program? Won’t go to their website to find out.

    Valerie in reply to herm2416. | June 7, 2018 at 10:30 am

    There was a time when a lot of local Planned Parenthood chapters promoted birth control, with abortion as a last, reluctant resort. That is how they won their still-existing hardline support from women who remember what it was like before Roe v. Wade.

    Things changed. As birth control became more effective and more easily available, PP’s share of that market decreased, so they were left with very little but morning-after pills and abortions. Now some states are trying to limit the availability of morning-after pills.

    Margaret Sanger was a horrible racist who tried mightily to eliminate blacks as a population in the United States. This fact will not shake the position of white women of means who have had a pregnancy scare, or lost a community member to a botched abortion.

      rdmdawg in reply to Valerie. | June 7, 2018 at 12:10 pm

      If a woman is a ‘victim’ of a ‘botched abortion’, why do you think people’s sympathies would lie with her and not the aborted baby?

      herm2416 in reply to Valerie. | June 7, 2018 at 12:23 pm

      I never knew that, regarding the advent of the pill, and the demise of their business. Thank you.

      n.n in reply to Valerie. | June 7, 2018 at 1:46 pm

      A pregnancy scare after choice then choice, is the rationalization of Choice (i.e. selective-child)?

        notamemberofanyorganizedpolicital in reply to n.n. | June 7, 2018 at 6:15 pm

        Amazon.con has turn into a Terrorist Organization????????

        That question has to be asked………..

Be gentle with me because I barely understand the terminology but…

I thought 501(3c)s we’re not allowed to support political groups?

“Thanks for your interest in Amazon! We’re thrilled to support many different 501(c)(3) organizations and schools in communities where our employees live and work. With the number of worthy requests .”

“Requirements to Maintain 501C3 Status. … The Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) is a provision in the federal tax code, which allows certain nonprofit organizations, including charities, churches, educational institutions and other organizations that meet the requirements to be exempt from certain taxes.”

    Immolate in reply to Fen. | June 7, 2018 at 10:15 am

    Confused. Which 501(c)(3) do you suspect is supporting a political cause?

      tarheelkate in reply to Immolate. | June 7, 2018 at 10:57 am

      The SPLC is a 501(c)3.

        Milhouse in reply to tarheelkate. | June 7, 2018 at 11:44 am

        And which political campaign has SPLC supported? Which candidate has it campaigned either for or against? It doesn’t do that. Were you seriously under the impression that 501(c)3s could not have opinions?! How could that be? Where can you find a person, or a group of people, without opinions? What sort of charitable organization could possibly be established without some sort of goal, which necessarily means an opinion that the goal is worthy?

          rdmdawg in reply to Milhouse. | June 7, 2018 at 12:14 pm

          Opinions such as “Legal Insurrection is a hate site” sound entirely political to me. SPLC should lose its tax-exempt status.

          Milhouse in reply to Milhouse. | June 8, 2018 at 2:37 am

          No, it is not. Again, where did you ever get the impression that 501(c)3s may not have opinions? They may not support or oppose the election of any candidate. SPLC observes that restriction. Other than that it is free to voice any opinion it likes, no matter how false or hateful.

I’ve been a regular customer of Amazon’s for quite a number of years now, but that’s about to end. I’m sick of this b.s.

    Well, they still donate to my church, but who knows how long that will last? I guess I’m going to be going to Walmart regularly for online shopping. I bought a canoe from them online – it was $100 cheaper than Amazon for the exact same model, so maybe switching will be win-win: stick it to Amazon and save money at the same time.

      The Friendly Grizzly in reply to topcat69. | June 7, 2018 at 12:20 pm

      I was able to find American-made refrigerator water filters on eBay that I could not find on Amazon except for OEM filters for more money than I’d spend at Lowe’s or Home Despot.

      I like Amazon and have always been pleased with the service. I like my Kindle, and Amazon Prime TV has a lot of real treats. It will be difficult to cut them loose, but, I’m getting close to doing so.

    JohnSmith100 in reply to Observer. | June 7, 2018 at 1:56 pm

    I have been using WikiBuy. , which gives Amazon’s price and several others, if the others are not equal to or lower than Amazon, I ask them to match Amazon’s price.

    I bet that SPLC’s involvement was why LI was unjustly kicked off Amazon.

It’s obvious this Bezos guy is a pro-tyranny bigot, and his weapon of choice is economic persecution.

Ok, fine. Amazoid is a private corporation, so he can run it however he chooses, and unlike venal government I’m not required by law to give him my $$.

Plus, unlike leftists, I won’t go whining to big gub’mint for more laws & regs to ease my butthurt.

The market place will adjust. Informed consumers will vote with their pocketbook. Bezos and ilk will one day go the way of the once retail behemonth Sears & Roebuck.

Alternatives. God bless capitalism.

https://techboomers.com/amazon-alternatives

4th armored div | June 7, 2018 at 9:58 am

i don’t have much disposable cash, so i always check out web sites for bargains. Amazon was almost never the cheapest.
in fact Walmart or target were a better buy. especially if i needed to return an item. also for quantity Costco could not be beat.

BTW, how is it that Insty still does adverts for the ‘evil’ one ?

    Immolate in reply to 4th armored div. | June 7, 2018 at 10:12 am

    Target is on my “refrain from doing business with” list for their lack of respect for their customers based on ideology.

    Matt_SE in reply to 4th armored div. | June 7, 2018 at 5:49 pm

    I got bad news for you and anyone else who thinks Walmart is better: they are just as SJW-converged as Amazon. In fact, I would say they fell before Amazon did.

    Remember the labor strikes against them a few years ago? They had their intended effect.

assemblerhead | June 7, 2018 at 10:01 am

The SPLC is a ‘hate group’. If you don’t give them lots of money … they hate you.

Could Amazon be sued for promoting hatred, racism, and bigotry?

After a spate of buying from Amazon early this year, I’ve been on hiatus for reasons unrelated to their most recent provocations. I am now reconsidering continuing to use them due to their hostility toward conservatism. I’ve been a Prime customer for years, although I seldom watch their content.

I hope they wake from being woke, and remember what their mission is. For now, I’ll take a wait-and-see approach and not order anything, and cancel my prime membership for the time being, which is on month-to-month.

    Immolate in reply to Immolate. | June 7, 2018 at 10:10 am

    Cancelled. I was not offered an opportunity to state the reason for my cancellation. That seems unwise on Amazon’s part. Were I them, I’d want to know which of my business decisions were costing me money.

So, this is how they monetize SPLC, which has devolved from a civil rights organization to a propaganda outlet.

    davod in reply to Valerie. | June 7, 2018 at 10:49 am

    Time to sue SPLC.

      Milhouse in reply to davod. | June 7, 2018 at 11:57 am

      For what? They’ve got the right to pursue whatever policies they like, including evil ones. They’ve also got the right to accumulate however much cash gullible people are willing to give them.

    Milhouse in reply to Valerie. | June 7, 2018 at 11:59 am

    I have trouble believing that SPLC was ever a genuine civil rights group. I keep being told it was so, long ago in the before times, but I have my doubts.

      JohnSmith100 in reply to Milhouse. | June 7, 2018 at 2:06 pm

      Perhaps in the seventies. Since then they figured out where there was easy money.

      Milwaukee in reply to Milhouse. | June 7, 2018 at 2:57 pm

      “I have trouble believing that SPLC was ever a genuine civil rights group.”

      Might I add, MeToo?

      I think they have done some civil rights work, but this is like the Mel Brooks movie “The Producers” –they don’t have to actually have many successes. They do enough to keep the donations rolling in. Millions in donations, thousands spent, means profits. Just because they are a nonprofit, doesn’t mean the individuals involved aren’t making money.

      tarheelkate in reply to Milhouse. | June 8, 2018 at 7:48 am

      I’ve always heard that the SPLC was formed to identify Klan groups, and was very effective at exposing their membership and financial dealings.

        Milhouse in reply to tarheelkate. | June 10, 2018 at 2:56 am

        Or making them up, as Prof J discovered when he went looking for the two groups that SPLC alleged existed in Rhode Island.

regulus arcturus | June 7, 2018 at 10:30 am

This is the logical outcome of SJW and diversity virtue signaling infiltrating corporate America.

SPLC is a criminal org focused on smearing those who do not fit their far left profile.

Look for more abuse of this type in technology (censorship of certain outlets) and general content delivery.

    Milhouse in reply to regulus arcturus. | June 7, 2018 at 11:59 am

    Not criminal (though they support criminals, which is their right).

      regulus arcturus in reply to Milhouse. | June 7, 2018 at 5:35 pm

      I believe they have engaged in criminal financial activities as well as libelous actions, but won’t quibble with you here.

      They are not a civil rights org, rather a shadow censor empowered by quasi-monopolistic entities.

civil truth | June 7, 2018 at 10:52 am

Seems like we could be getting very close to illegal restraint of trade territory here or even RICO, especially if Amazon is relying on SPLC as an “impartial” referee. Unfortunately, what’s going on here is an attempt to run out the clock of the conservative counterrevolution.

The first step is to sway the 2018 elections in order win the House to effectively stop the investigations and conservative legislation – involving here a concerted effort by our large social media/internet giants to defund and prevent participation by conservative in the public arena in order to create a media tsunami by November.

Then the resultant turmoil will be exploited for the 2020 elections when the Senate reelection numbers favor the left – with the expectation of full Democratic control of Congress and the Presidency.

Unfortunately, since we know that court action is too slow (especially with the impossibility of timely discovery), there’s little one can do other than to hope the voters can see through what they’re going to encounter from the media.

The fact-free speculation and slander and mob incitement that are already being spread on the airways and internet are just testing for the “October Surprises” (if not sooner) that are coming up.

    JohnSmith100 in reply to civil truth. | June 7, 2018 at 2:10 pm

    “media tsunami by November.”

    The had “media tsunami” in the last election, that was a big factor in my voting for Trump. They tried to create the impression that Hillary was a winner, I knew they were trying to con us.

      C. Lashown in reply to JohnSmith100. | June 8, 2018 at 1:29 pm

      For me, that was the entire issue when Obama came on the scene. After so many years of scut jobs and then volunteering in rescue missions, his smooth rhetoric and a sense of a flippant con-job just curdled my thoughts on him. Then there was the issue of not covering his heart for the national anthem…and just a host of tiny quirks. By the time Obama came up for the vote his first time, I couldn’t listen to him without uttering curses.

      Hillary was a lot easier. LOL I’ve met whore house madam’s which were more trustworthy than that old battleaxe!

      I should add here that sometimes President Trump presence with the conservatives side of our society disturbs me. Everyone recalls how Obama was lauded as the American Savior, yes? The conservatives sometimes seem to tac the same route when plying the political winds….and this is not good. We need a strong leader, not a charismatic one. Obama was charismatic and deviously anti-American leader, and we still feel the results.

tarheelkate | June 7, 2018 at 11:18 am

Just recently I researched at Amazon and bought from Sur la Table. And I can buy books from Barnes and Noble cheerfully, and surely I can find a source for the printer ink cartridges. I’ll stop using my Amazon credit card.

Another reason to continue my transition to Walmart and others online.

Amazon grants the SPLC that power “because we don’t want to be biased whatsoever,”…

They don’t want to appear biased, so they let the SPLC be biased for them.

Kinda like me hiring Guido the killer pimp, to rough up the people I don’t like.

Maybe it is time for a defamation/slander (class action) action against SPLC. If they are interfering with business relationships it is an opportunity to look into both SPLC’s and Facebook practices. Texas might be a good venue. Didn’t the SPLC brag about putting the KKK out of business by bankrupting them with a verdict?

buckeyeminuteman | June 7, 2018 at 12:03 pm

Amazon CEO: If only there were an organization that polices hate groups so we don’t have to do the dirty work of policing our charity programs.

Amazon VP for White Guilt: the SPLC does that!

Amazon CEO: Perfect! Now we don’t have to put any thought into this ourselves.

    Immolate in reply to buckeyeminuteman. | June 7, 2018 at 1:58 pm

    Nothing nearly so innocent as that.

    This is more like hiring Stormfront to tell people where to sit on the bus.

    MajorWood in reply to buckeyeminuteman. | June 8, 2018 at 10:32 am

    I refrain from using the term “hate group” because it has the same associated negative connotation that “assault rifle” has. Much better to say “groups with social and political beliefs different from theirs.” It is necessary to dissolve their NewSpeak in order to not give them free bonus points. Their using “hate” automatically takes whatever group being discussed to the far end of the spectrum. Make THEM define what it is that they are talking about. And it can also backfire. They tried to insult me so many times by calling me a Trump supporter that I finally became one, I guess a promotion from just being a simple Hillary hater. You can really mess with them when they say “So you like Trump” and I come back with “No, but I really like what he is doing.” A joy of living in Portland is that there is a never-ending supply of targets of opportunity.

At least we now know the real reason LI is no longer an Amazon Affiliate. Small comfort, though.

My face is one of realizing the creepy dude you never want to have your kids near is actually the “put the lotion in the basket” level of evil.

I am shocked, SHOCKED, to learn that Amazon has turned over policing of its charity programs to the SPLC.

I really am.

Until hearing this news I thought Amazon had hired Hamas for the job.

VaGentleman | June 7, 2018 at 3:32 pm

Prof,
you know how this game works. They call you a racist. You protest, make a $10mil donation to a ethnic themed charity to prove you’re sincere, offer SPLC a donation for falsely accusing you (to show they might have been right and good job boys) and all is forgiven.

It’s just more politics of the shakedown by the left.

The Southern Commie Law Center, Amazon, Google, Twitter and Facebook only have the power we in the opposition are willing to give them.

Till now, they’re used to corrupt Crying Boehners, or other corrupt GOPe hacks like McConnell and Ryan.

How McConnell and Chao used political power to make their family rich:
https://nypost.com/2018/03/17/how-mcconnell-and-chao-used-political-power-to-make-their-family-rich/

Paul Ryan: “I agree with Antifa’s core values and Antifa stands for the greater global good.”
https://www.facebook.com/PaulRyanneedstogo/
https://www.facebook.com/PaulRyanneedstogo/

John Boehner is joining a marijuana company:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/john-boehner-is-joining-a-marijuana-company-2018-04-11

WE ELECTED DONALD TRUMP ACT LIKE IT.

Not being snarky, but who or what is the SPLC please?

Just cancelled my Prime membership.
Thanks Amazon, for making that decision so easy!

Unknown3rdParty | June 7, 2018 at 6:02 pm

SPLC, a civil rights stalwart? Since when? Frankly, that’s a laugh … they’ve always been a leftist front group, and civil rights were never in their scope. Some goes for the ACLU, just a little less so.

    Milhouse in reply to Unknown3rdParty. | June 10, 2018 at 3:00 am

    No, while the ACLU was originally founded as a communist front, it turned into a genuine and important defender of civil liberties, and remained so from the 1940s to the early 2000s. It has not yet entirely returned to the dark side, but unfortunately that process is well underway.

regulus arcturus | June 8, 2018 at 1:35 am

What if I told you Milhouse was Prof. Jacobson?