Listings offering Dr Seuss’s canceled books are being removed from eBay in accordance with the platform’s offensive material policy.
Following the announcement that six of Dr. Seuss’s works, including If I Ran the Zoo, Scrambled Eggs Super!, On Beyond Zebra!, The Cat’s Quizzer, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, and McElligot’s Pool, will no longer be published, the author’s supporters rushed to get their hands on existing copies.
Once the news hit the headlines, plenty of owners of the author’s canceled works took to e-commerce platforms such as eBay in a bid to resell their books for a good price.
eBay, however, has sparked a major backlash after deciding to ban listings offering the canceled titles due to their offensive material.
Following their decision, the company has been accused of censorship, whereas critics slammed eBay for allowing the sale of troubling works, such as Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, while banning Dr Seuss’s children books.
“We had to remove your listing because it didn’t follow our Offensive material policy. Listings that promote or glorify hatred, violence, or discrimination aren’t allowed,” the message that a number of users shared after their listings were removed read.
“Dr Seuss Enterprises has stopped publication of this book due to its negative portrayal of some ethnicities,” the explanation went on.
“As a courtesy, we have ended your item and refunded your selling fees, and as long as you do not relist the item, there will be no negative impact to your account. Please review our Offensive Materials Policy prohibits this item for more information.”
Following the crackdown on Dr Seuss’s canceled titles, outraged netizens accused the e-commerce giant of censorship and book burning.
“I sell antique books on eBay, including stuff that’s arguably more controversial than this, & I’ve never had a single listing removed for ‘offensive material’. eBay allows porn, Nazi glorification, & Farrakhan literature, but this is what they deliberately flag?” someone questioned.
“eBay is pulling down listings of Dr. Seuss books – yet you’ll find copies of Hitler’s Mein Kampf and The Communist Manifesto for sale with zero complaints. From the Left, book burning is good if the ‘right’ books are being burned,” Young America’s Foundation tweeted.
Another user wrote: “So not only will they still stop publishing Dr Seuss books, but now eBay won’t let you sell it. What is this world coming to? Where does it end?”
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Replaced!