A conservative magazine in Europe has been dumped by a major retailer after a number of progressives declared what has been described as a “retail ‘fatwa'” against the publication over its content.
The European Conservative, a right-leaning print magazine with a significant readership has reportedly been dumped by major UK print retailer WH Smith’s after a number of online progressives threw a tantrum about the magazine’s contents.
Apparently prompted by the content of a recent edition of the magazine — which included an interview with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, as well as a cartoon satirising the teaching of LGBT ideological content in schools — the successful deplatforming attempt has been described as a “retail ‘fatwa'” by the publication’s Editor in Chief.
According to a press release by the European Conservative, retailer WH Smith reportedly took the decision to remove all copies of the magazine from their stands after they received nine email complaints from individuals who claimed to be enraged by the publication’s content.
3/3 So, there it is. Feel free to contact @WHSmith yourselves to let them know what you think of this.
And subscribe https://t.co/yCQKtyd08Q, if you want to see what all the fuss is about! pic.twitter.com/OJK6pVNk7S
— The European Conservative (@EuroConOfficial) August 21, 2022
While the British retailer reportedly said that they have made the decision to pull the magazines while they are “in discussion with the publisher”, the European Conservative has claimed that they have yet to be contacted by the company in regards to the decision.
“We are deeply troubled by WH Smith’s decision to immediately remove us from their shelves in all their stores, which we hope was done temporarily over the weekend, out of an abundance of caution,” a press release from the publication read, before emphasising that the mission statement of the magazine is to explore “all aspects of European conservatism”, even if some ideas “are not necessarily fashionable”.
However, even with this being the case, the publication complained that any censorship from the retailer seemed to lean a certain way ideologically, imploring the company to stand up for “true diversity of opinion”.
“Does WH Smith ban pornography because it offends women, the devout, or the pious? No. Does WH Smith ban Salman Rushdie’s works because they offend Muslims? No,” it continued. “What happened to the international spirit of ‘Je suis Charlie’, so popular a few years ago, in the face of more violent acts of censorship and limitations on freedom of expression?”
Alvino-Mario Fantini — the European Conservative’s Editor in Chief — has meanwhile expressed his frustration and disappointment at the decision to Breitbart Europe.
“WH Smith’s removal of our publication from their shelves — and their refusal to communicate their official decision with us directly and transparently — is hugely disappointing,” Fantini told Breitbart.
“We thought that as booksellers and newsagents, they would be the ones to push back against attempts at censorship,” the magazine head continued.
“It seems that a retail ‘fatwa’ was declared against us — and it worked,” he went on to say.
Breitbart Europe has approached WH Smith for comment regarding the ordeal.
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