CEP Impact: Barnes & Noble Removes Antisemitic Book From Website (New York, N.Y.) — Action by the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) has resulted in Barnes & Noble halting the sale of a version of the infamous antisemitic book, Henry Ford’s The International Jew, and removing it from its website. The company made a neo-Nazi publisher’s four-volume version of the book available for purchase on November 9, the anniversary of the failed 1923 Beer Hall Putsch and Kristallnacht. The version sold contained artwork by a white supremacist illustrator. CEP reported the book to Barnes & Noble on November 10 as violating the bookseller’s Content Policy, which explicitly states that “content that encourages intolerance, terrorism, hate, racism or violence” is prohibited. Barnes & Noble removed the neo-Nazi press’ version of the book less than one week later. |
Screenshot of The International Jew available for sale on the Barnes & Noble website Ford is recognized for broadcasting international conspiracy theories about Jews to the American public, and he accused Jews of abusing capitalism to specifically target his business. The version of the book that Barnes & Noble removed openly promoted antisemitism and was meant to be read as a truthful text. The description on the website stated that “Henry Ford legitimized ideas that are still true today.” The timely and decisive response by Barnes & Noble is the latest example of how CEP’s subject matter expertise, combined with quick and reliable content moderation can be used to disrupt the sale of material that is seeking to spread hate. Earlier this year, CEP action led to the removal of a neo-Nazi clothing shop from the print-on-demand platform Spring and a merchant using the Spring platform to raise money for an Austrian neo-Nazi rapper serving a prison sentence for inciting violence and glorifying Nazism. ### |
