A conservative magazine in Europe was abandoned by a major retail chain after some progressives issued a so-called “retail fatwa” against its content.
European Conservative, a right-wing print magazine with a large readership, has reportedly been abandoned by major British print retailer WH Smith’s after some online progressives took a tantrum over the magazine’s content.
The successful removal attempt has been described as a “retail fatwa”, apparently judging from the magazine’s latest issue, which featured an interview with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, as well as a cartoon mocking the teaching of LGBT ideology in schools. – chief.
According to a European Conservative press release, retailer WH Smith has decided to remove all copies of the magazine from its stands after receiving nine email complaints from people who said they were offended by the publication’s content.
3/3 Here it is. Do not hesitate to contact @whsmith yourself to let them know what you think about them.
And if you want to see what all the fuss is about, follow https://t.co/yCQKtyd08Q! pic.twitter.com/OJK6pVNk7S
— European Conservative (@EuroConOfficial) 21 August 2022
The British retailer said they had made the decision to withdraw the magazines “in discussion with the publisher”, while the European conservative company said it had not been contacted about the decision.
“We are deeply concerned about WH Smith’s decision to immediately remove us from the shelves of all of its stores,” the publication said in a press release. Its mission statement is to explore “every aspect of European conservatism”, even if some ideas are not “trendy”.
But the publication complained that any censorship by the retailer seemed to have a certain ideological leaning, and asked the company to stand up for “genuine diversity of opinion.”
“Was WH Smith outlawed pornography because it was offensive to women, religious or non-religious? No. Is WH Smith banning Salman Rushdie’s work because it offends Muslims? No, it continued. “What happened to the international spirit of ‘Je suis Charlie’ that was so popular a few years ago, in the face of increasingly harsh acts of censorship and restrictions on freedom of expression?”
Meanwhile, Alvino-Mario Fantini, editor-in-chief of the European Conservative magazine, expressed his disappointment with Breitbart Europe’s decision.
“It is a great disappointment that WH Smith has removed our publication from their shelves and that they have refused to communicate their official decision directly and openly to us,” Fantini told Breitbart.
“We thought as booksellers and newsagents they would resist censorship efforts,” the magazine’s president continued.
“It looks like a retail fatwa was issued against us – and it worked,” he continued.
Breitbart Europe reached out to WH Smith for comment on this trial.
Source: Breitbart
