No, we don’t know how long they have been on sale on each website.
Some of these books, as in the case of the Waterstones website, are categorised under 'conspiracy theories' or 'hoaxes and deceptions'. Would it be acceptable for these books to be sold if they were clearly labelled as such across all four websites?
I don’t think so. We at HOPE Not Hate felt it was morally wrong for any mainstream bookseller to make any profit – however small – from extreme hate content of this manner. As such, even if labelled correctly, they should not have been selling it.
Does Hope Not Hate plan to extend the campaign to any other websites or smaller, more independent booksellers?
We have no plans to extend it at the moment, but we do continue to monitor these things.
Critics of this campaign have accused Hope Not Hate of trying to censor these books and, subsequently, threaten free speech. What is your response to such statements?
There is a world of difference between saying extremist books should not be sold by major high street brands and calling for these books to be banned. Free speech does not mean a requirement to provide a platform for that speech. Where to draw the line is a complex debate. We understand that, and we’re listening to supporters who are concerned about this issue. Sadly, other people, either through ignorance or malice, have smeared the campaign by falsely stating we were calling for the banning of books, or even drawing absurd false equivalency with Nazi-era book-burning. Some of these people came from the far-right, which was no surprise, but unfortunately more mainstream individuals also repeated this falsehood.
Most importantly, perhaps - has the campaign worked?
Yes, we would argue the campaign was a success. 44 of the titles we raised concerns over have been removed from the retailers’ websites and Foyles even donated the profit they had made from these books to charity.
The campaign’s full briefing, Turning the Page on Hate, can be downloaded by clicking this link. For more information about HOPE Not Hate, visit the website at www.hopenothate.org.uk or follow the organisation on Twitter at @hopenothate.