Step by Step Tutorial to Fighting Fascism on E-Commerce Sites

Dear Friends,

There are a million ways we, collectively, can join the fight against this toxic spill of an administration and all its evil. Frankly, I am in total awe of the thousands of individuals who are stepping away from their individual daily lives to come together to stand up against the masked thugs of ICE. I'd like to believe that, if I lived State-side, I would take my 4'10" old lady self to the front line and face off with those masked bastards. However, living in a very peaceful town on the Canadian side of the border, I am restricted to keyboard warrior tactics, so my perceived sense of bravado can't/won't be put to the test.

Inspired by my sister (another very short, old lady activist), I decided to report any "Alligator Alcatraz" merch I saw on Etsy as a violation of their rules against promoting violence ("Etsy does not allow items or listings with violent or degrading language towards people based upon: race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, immigration status, or caste (collectively, “protected classes”). We also prohibit items or content that promote organisations with such views.").

At first, I was reporting each item, but, good lord! - there are literally thousands of these hideous "Funny Trump Alligator Alcatraz" items listed on Etsy. I am sure it is the same on Amazon, but I don't have an account to verify. Fortunately, my sister does have an Amazon account and she has provided a step-by-step tutorial on how to report all Alligator Alcatraz merch on Amazon. I am providing the step-by-step tutorial on how to report all Alligator Alcatraz merch via the chat option on Etsy. I believe that if enough of us file complaints, they might listen and maybe even prohibit the these items for promoting hate and/or racist violence. It's a relatively easy action to step up for our kidnapped neighbours.

REPORTING ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ MERCH ON ETSY

STEP 1: Log in to Etsy and scroll to the bottom of the page to the blue section.

STEP 2: Click on Help Centre option in right hand corner.

STEP 3: Scroll to bottom of this page and click on Contact Etsy Support.

STEP 4: Click on the Buying on Etsy button.

STEP 5: This will lead you to the chat option in the lower right hand corner. You will be connected to a "chat bot" (ugh), but after a few attempts to assuage you with AI, they will transfer you to a human. I 'spoke' with someone named Javier.

REPORTING ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ MERCH ON AMAZON

STEP 1: Contact Amazon Customer Service

STEP 2: Choose the 'Call Me' option to speak with a human.

STEP 3: Say you want to report an item for removal. As with Etsy, you will first be connected with a 'bot' but transferred to a live human if you are persistent.

STEP 4: Explain why you are insisting that these items must removed. Use words like "concentration camp", "thousands of innocent people being imprisoned in inhumane conditions", "promotes racist violence"...

As my sister points out in her post, please remember that the Amazon agent helping you is probably a really decent person stuck working this shitty job. Be kind to them but firm in your complaint about the merch.

The current US administration is 100% hellbent on destroying lives everywhere as fast as possible. None of us can possibly stop all of the evil they are committing, but all of us can do something to slow or even stop some of their cruel and evil actions. I am here to encourage you to do what you can from wherever you are, and today I am encouraging you to make good use of your screen time. If you find yourself doom scrolling, why not spend a few minutes taking action to remove some of the doom from the world? I guarantee, it feels waaaayyyy better than doing nothing, and it may even result in something good (ie - removal of merch celebrating Trump's latest concentration camp). Give it a go and let me know how you get on!

With love and solidarity,

Jessica