I agree, mk. And it threatens self-publishing, when Amazon touts itself as a self-publishing platform. I guess they are going to the other extreme when trying to avoid reddit-style controversy. The argument can, and should mostly, be made that "We are the provider, not the producer, and cannot be held accountable for the content of the producer" but they don't want to be r/Jailbait. Not that self-published books are setting that kind of thing up, of course.
Yes, that would be a poor excuse. There is a clear difference between hosting titillating photos of real underage girls, and fiction. Controversy is not a bad thing. It's all about who finds it controversial, and what the rationale behind it is. Amazon should have a spine.The argument can, and should mostly, be made that "We are the provider, not the producer, and cannot be held accountable for the content of the producer" but they don't want to be r/Jailbait. Not that self-published books are setting that kind of thing up, of course.