The internet retailer Amazon has found itself at the centre of a censorship row after it decided to remove a number of so-called adult books from its online charts.
Over the weekend, thousands of books have lost their sales rank – the number that Amazon uses to show how well one title sells compared with another – as the company apparently seeks to make its bestseller lists more family friendly.
But thousands of users have voiced concern after the seemingly random application of the new rules not only affected a number of high-profile authors, including Annie Proulx, EM Forster and Jeanette Winterson, but also led to thousands of gay and lesbian titles being stripped of their sales rank, regardless of their sexual content.
After being bombarded with angry emails from authors and readers, Amazon blamed a "glitch" in its system, which it said last night was being fixed.
But just a few days ago, the company told complainants books classed as containing "adult material" had been prevented from appearing in some searches and bestseller lists "in consideration of our entire customer base". Yesterday a spokeswoman denied there was ever any such "policy".