Hundreds of Amazon staff heap pressure on bosses to ditch Breitbart News

Online retailer urged to drop website claimed to publish ‘hateful and bigoted content’ by its own employees, buoying up wider campaign

Breitbart views: Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos reportedly received email from staff calling on him to ditch the right-wing news website (Getty)

Nearly 600 Amazon employees are reportedly heaping pressure on their top bosses to cut ties with ultra-right-wing website Breitbart News.

Last month staff at the online retail giant sent an email to chief executive Jeff Bezos and senior vice president Jeff Blackburn with the heading: “Amazon Must Stop Advertising on Breitbart News”, according to CNBC.

The message reportedly included a petition opposing Amazon’s advertising on Breitbart, with 564 signatures.

It believed to have alluded to a confrontation that took place between a member of staff and Mr Blackburn about advertising on a site claimed “regularly publishes hateful and bigoted content”.

“What is it going to take for us to stop advertising on Breitbart News?” the employee reportedly asked.

Amazon is not believed to have a direct relationship with Breitbart but it does select the exchanges through which it buys ads, which implies that it would have a degree of control over how they are targeted.

Pressure on Amazon to stop advertising on Breitbart has intensified since the US presidential election in November.

A petition on campaigning website SumofUs calling for Amazon to ditch Breitbart News has garnered more than 500,000 signatures.

Amazon did not immediately respond to The Independent’s requests for comment on the letter.

Breitbart News was founded by conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart in 2007 and was later expanded by senior Donald Trump aide Steve Bannon.