Elon Musk tweeted that Amazon should be broken up after it refused to publish a book that peddled falsehoods about the coronavirus (TSLA, AMZN)

Avery Hartmans

June 4, 2020 7:17 PM

Elon Musk tweeted that Amazon should be broken up after its publishing service refused to publish a book about the coronavirus.

elon musk

"Time to break up Amazon. Monopolies are wrong!" Musk tweeted on Thursday.
Musk was referring to the book "Unreported Truths about COVID-19 and Lockdowns" by Alex Berenson, who, despite evidence, is an outspoken coronavirus skeptic that has become a darling among fringe conspiracy theory groups.
Both Musk and Berenson have posted falsehoods about the coronavirus on Twitter, such as the incorrect claim that children are at no risk. Musk became friendly with Berenson over these shared views.
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Elon Musk is calling for Amazon to be broken up after Amazon's publishing service refused to publish a book by a writer who has put forth conspiracy theories and falsehoods about the coronavirus.

"Time to break up Amazon. Monopolies are wrong!" Musk tweeted, also tagging Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and calling the situation "insane."

Musk's comments were in response to writer Alex Berenson, who wrote a book titled "Unreported Truths about COVID-19 and Lockdowns" that Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing service is refusing to publish, saying it does not comply with its guidelines. Berenson tweeted a screenshot of the email he claims he received from Amazon, saying the company "censored" his book.

Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on Musk's tweet.

Berenson is a former reporter for The New York Times who has been outspoken about his theories that the response to the coronavirus outbreak has been overblown, despite evidence from experts. He has said, incorrectly, that "kids, children, almost anybody under 30 is at no risk" of contracting COVID-19 and has said that the lockdowns themselves are the source of problems related to the virus.

Musk appears to agree with Berenson on many of his views, initially calling the response to the outbreak a "panic" and "dumb" and falsely claiming that children are "essentially immune" to the virus. Musk has also pushed for reopening businesses throughout the country, describing stay-at-home orders as "fascist" and initially defying local ordinances to reopen his Tesla plant in California .

Musk has also described coronavirus death counts in the US as "misleading," despite the fact that experts estimate the US has undercounted deaths .

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