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Coronavirus: Elon Musk says Amazon should be ‘broken up’ after it refuses to sell controversial Covid-19 book

Elon Musk at the SpaceX launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in May. Shortly after the launch he announced he was taking a break from Twitter: Getty Images
Elon Musk at the SpaceX launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in May. Shortly after the launch he announced he was taking a break from Twitter: Getty Images

Elon Musk has broken his recent Twitter hiatus to call out fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos over Amazon's decision to ban a controversial book about the coronavirus.

The SpaceX and Tesla boss tweeted in response to a screenshot posted by the author of the self-published e-book, titled 'Unreported truths about Covid-19 and lockdowns', which showed a message from Amazon's content review department.

The message stated: "Your book does not comply with our guidelines. As a result we are not offering your book for sale."

Replying to the author's tweet, Mr Musk wrote: "This is insane @JeffBezos."

Shortly after, he tweeted: "Time to break up Amazon. Monopolies are wrong!"

The tweets come just two days after he said he was quitting Twitter "for a while".

Amazon has since reversed its decision to block the sale of the 6,400-word book, which questions the reported health risks associated with the Covid-19 coronavirus and criticises government decisions to enforce lockdowns.

The e-commerce giant sent author Alex Berenson an email on Thursday that both the e-book and paperback copies would be sold through the site.

Mr Berenson credited Mr Musk for Amazon's decision to reverse the ban, tweeting: "Thanks to @elonmusk and everyone who helped."

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment but a spokesperson told Reuters that the book had been blocked "in error".

The spokesperson also said that the decision to reverse the ban was not as a result of Mr Musk's tweets.

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