It probably seemed like an easy way to raise funds for the Foundation for the Marketplace of Ideas (FMI).
FMI created a charity profile on Amazon.com through the Amazon Smile program and pulled 0.5 percent of some purchases toward alt-right causes.
But, the online retailer put an end to the cash collections by white nationalist attorney Kyle Bristow. As of Wednesday, Amazon shut down FMIās donation collections by making it ineligible to take part in the charity fundraising program.
Amazon posted a message saying FMI was āno longer eligibleā for the program and any funds donated could be redirected to another charity.
It isnāt known how much money the organization, run by Bristow as the legal arm of the alt-right, made from Amazonās charity fundraising outlet. But, Bristow, in a tweet Wednesday morning, said it wasnāt much.
āIt appears @amazon doesnāt like civil rights groups which advocate for the First Amendment!,ā wrote Bristow, who has represented alt-right figures in lawsuits around the country. ā0.5% of the purchase price of a cheap Chinese product is very nominal.ā
Amazonās move is the latest by online companies and social media to drop, block and decertify figures from the alt-right.
The move brings Amazon in line with PayPal, which agreed to block at least 34 organizations from using its services after an SPLC report highlighted how extremists used the platform to fund the rally in Charlottesville, Patreon and others in dropping racists and white nationalists from their platforms.
FMIās board includes some of the biggest names in the alt-right movement, including activist and attorney Augustus Invictus, Richard B. Spencer and blogger Mike Enoch Peinovich.
And, the organization isnāt without fundraising outlets, though. Bristow is raising money ā $230 a month in pledges from 20 patrons ($4,600 monthly) ā on the white nationalist fundraising site Hatreon.