Dr. Seuss’ books found to be offensive will be removed from eBay

Hundreds of listings for the six books could be found on the platform as of Thursday morning, although the number appears to be lower than it was Wednesday night. The eBay spokesperson said it would take some time to review sellers’ ads and the company was monitoring newly released ads.

Retailers often make the decision to remove products from their platforms for a variety of reasons. EBay’s decision comes at a time of growing concern, especially in conservative neighborhoods, about how major tech platforms decide what content is acceptable. At the same time, others claim that platforms are not doing enough to control inappropriate content.

Dr. Seuss Enterprises LP, which oversees the publishing interests and ancillary areas of Dr. Seuss, said Tuesday that he had decided that six of the famous author’s books – “And to think I saw it on Mulberry Street ”; “If I ran the zoo”; “McElligot Pool”; “On Beyond Zebra!”; “Great scrambled eggs!” and “The Cat’s Quizzer” – would no longer be published because they “portray people in a hurtful and unfair way.”

After the announcement, a woman said she had listed two titles, “On Beyond Zebra!” and “McElligot’s Pool,” on sale on eBay Wednesday. Later that day, she said, she received an email from eBay explaining that “On Beyond Zebra!” had been removed from sale because it violated eBay’s “Offensive Content Policy”. The second title was withdrawn Thursday morning, she said.

“Dr. Seuss Enterprises has discontinued publication of this book due to its negative portrayal of certain ethnicities, ”said the eBay email message, which was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. “As a courtesy, we have completed your item and refunded your selling costs, and until you relist the item, there will be no negative impact on your account.”

Many controversial articles – including Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” and “The Turner Diaries,” a novel popular with white supremacist groups – were available on eBay from Wednesday night. When questioned, the spokeswoman said the two books also fell under the category of “offensive material” and would be removed. On Thursday afternoon, it emerged that “The Turner Diaries” was no longer available on eBay.

With “millions of transactions made every day on our platform in more than 190 marketplaces, we are constantly evaluating and making improvements to ensure that prohibited items stay off eBay,” said the spokesperson.

The six abandoned books by Dr Seuss are not among the best-known works of the late author. Earlier this week, publisher Random House Books for Young Readers and several booksellers – including Barnes & Noble – said Dr Seuss’ best-known books would remain available to customers.

More than five million printed copies of Dr. Seuss’ books were sold in the United States last year, according to data from NPD BookScan – run by “Oh, the Places you’re Go!” and “Green Eggs and Ham,” which each sold in the hundreds of thousands. Of the books now discontinued, the best-selling last year was “If I Ran the Zoo,” with around 7,000 copies sold.

Some copies of the six discontinued titles remained available for sale from third-party sellers on Amazon.com Inc.

An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment.

Amazon faced questions from Republican senators last week after removing a book on transgender issues that had been on sale on the platform for about three years. Amazon did not comment on the senators’ letter, but said it reserved the right not to sell certain titles based on its content guidelines for books.

A spokesperson for Encounter Books, which published “When Harry Became Sally: In Response to the Transgender Moment,” by conservative scholar Ryan T. Anderson, said on Thursday that the publishing house still had not received a report. explanation as to why the book had been withdrawn from sale. Amazon referred to its previous statement on Thursday.

“All retailers make decisions about which selection they choose to offer and we don’t take selection decisions lightly,” Amazon said in a statement last week.

Write to Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at [email protected]