Editor’s note: This article contains partially censored images of children in possibly disturbing and sexualized swimsuits.
If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve placed an order on Amazon at some point in your life. Over the pandemic alone, the online shopping giant reported a 200% spike in profits all while small businesses struggled.
Amazon hosts and fulfils hundreds of thousands of products, and third-party sellers are a big part of its business model.
But Amazon’s regulation system has, time and again, proven to be murky. A 2019 investigation by the Wall Street Journal found thousands of unsafe, mislabelled, and banned products on the website, ready to be added to your shopping cart.
A Daily Hive reader reached out to us via Facebook to report some shocking third-party listings they saw under the girls’ swimsuits category on Amazon.
One of the swimsuits reads “I LOVE TO EAT P*SSY” with a cartoon dog. The other reads “100% VEGAN” with cannabis leaves.
To be a seller on Amazon, the company requires tax information, banking details, a phone number, and national identity card information, among other documentation, to allow sellers to register and sell products.
CHARRA, the store housing the listings sent to Daily Hive, currently sells problematic merchandise rampantly under its brand, WEEDKEYCAT. The cartoon dog pattern appears to be the most used on their page.
But the issue extends beyond just one store or brand, and unfortunately, none of this is new.
Amazon is aware of it, too.
In 2019, journalist Yashar Ali tweeted a screenshot showing a problematic Amazon listing. He tagged the online shopping giant, and the listing was swiftly removed.
1. Available for sale on @amazon: “Daddy’s Little Slut” t-shirt…for children
Posting here in hopes it’ll expedite removal from Amazon https://t.co/KXi2e6lwNu pic.twitter.com/uuUtQ3DRC5
The outfits are often photoshopped onto children. Amid unicorn slippers and rainbow socks, the apparel category shows merchandise with sexualized text all over it, pro-drug prints, and disturbing double entendres.
“A dirty HOE is a happy HOE,” one T-shirt reads, with an image of the gardening tool called a hoe.
One off-the-shoulder swimsuit has a “PROFESSIONAL HOOKER” pattern all over it, with a small silhouette of what appears to be a fisher or a lineman at work, leaving room for ambiguity.
One cross-back monokini simply has the word “BITCH” plastered across it in bold letters.
There’s tons of cannabis merchandise for children on the website, too, but that’s not where the drug-related messaging stops.
Things take a darker turn with a frilly purple swimsuit, which shows a face with the eyes rolled back, having a nosebleed. The word “OVERDOSE” is printed all over it.
Daily Hive has reached out to Amazon and the third-party sellers mentioned in this article for their statements. We will update this story when they respond.
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