Amazon is getting slammed for streaming NRA TV after the Florida shooting
- Amazon along with several other companies have come under scrutiny by activists in the aftermath of the Florida shooting for their streaming of NRATV, the NRA's official channel.
- NRATV is also available through Apple TV and Roku, which has said it has no plans to pull the network from their service.
- Twitter users worked to spread the hashtag #StopNRAmazon to pressure Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to stop streaming the channel.
Gun control activists have put the National Rifle Association in their crosshairs since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting in Parkland, Florida. NRA lobbyist Dana Loesch was widely criticized after her appearance on a CNN town hall last night.
But the gun rights group has one more tool in its arsenal: NRATV, an online video channel. As The New York Times first reported, in the hours after the Florida shooting the channel's hosts claimed leftists were plotting to confiscate weapons, the "dishonest" media was conspiring to make people support gun control and the "deep state" was trying to undermine President Donald Trump.
NRATV has a loyal fan base, including almost 250,000 Twitter followers. It's also available through several online providers like Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV.
Roku said it has no plans to stop streaming NRATV, and Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
But Amazon garnered the most online vitriol, mostly because of its vast reach. The site was responsible for 44 percent of U.S. online retail market, and almost 36 million people own a Fire TV stick.
Using the hashtag #StopNRAmazon, both celebrities and everyday Twitter users called on Jeff Bezos to stop streaming NRA content on his site.
As several users pointed out, Amazon ironically doesn't sell firearms on its website (aside from BB guns and air rifles). That makes NRATV's inclusion on Amazon's digital platform even stranger.
Daniel Reed, an MSD parent, has started a Change.org petition urging Amazon to drop NRATV.
Amazon has not responded to a request for comment.
This isn't the first time one of Amazon's offerings has stirred up controversy. The site's Amazon Smile charity program allows customers to donate to Project Veritas, James O'Keefe's campaign to target and discredit the mainstream news media. Even after The Washington Post exposed Veritas' attempts to catfish the paper, Amazon refused to remove the nonprofit from its list.