If Amazon.com’s censoring of books concerning sexuality wasn’t bad enough, Google’s spokeswoman announced today that GoogleAds has “decided to disallow ads for abortion services, such as, abortion clinics, in the following markets: Germany, Poland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Italy, and Spain.” That’s quite the list!

GoogleAds’ spokeswomen believes she is being fair, just, representative of her clientele. She writes, “We decided to amend our policy, creating a level playing field and enabling religious associations to place ads on abortion in a factual way.” So while religious associations are allowed to provide concocted factual accounts of abortion, no clinic is allowed to advertise their conselling services, which, for once, can do some good by providing a safe space for women to learn about abortion, other options available to her, and sound medical advice.

I am still riled up about Amazon.com removing “adult” books from their rankings–not the least because “adult” is not-so-subtle code for LGBT and romance books. Amazon.com put on a face of goodwill, too, much like GoogleAds. Meta Writer, who has created a page that lists all of Amazon’s “banned books,” posts a letter he received from Amazon.com

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude “adult” material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.

Hence, if you have further questions, kindly write back to us.

Best regards,

Ashlyn D

Member Services

Amazon.com Advantage

In the meantime, however, books on the illegal, inhumane, and horrifyingly violent sport of dog fighting remain ranked and appear on a first page search under “dog fighting.”

For an organization invested in actually supporting people at large, and not a coneveniently selective target audience, check out Women on Waves’ website. According to Feminist.com, they brought the original policy to the attention of the International Women’s Health Coalition. Thank you.