Wish.com Removes Most Confederate Merchandise

This holiday season, visitors to Wish.com — the online retailer whose name is featured on jerseys worn by LeBron James and other members of the Los Angeles Lakers — were able to buy an item that is officially prohibited for promoting hate: the battle flag of the defeated Confederate States of America.

Paid ads on the site actually featured Mississippi’s recently scrapped state banner, which included the Confederate flag in the top left corner. In the ad, the symbol of the Confederacy, and the lost cause of chattel slavery, is featured prominently; hundreds of people purchased these items, according to the site.

Following an inquiry from Insider, most but not all of that merchandise has now been purged.

“Wish prohibits the listing of products that glorify or endorse hatred towards others,” a company spokesperson said Monday, noting it “deploys a number of measures to prevent these types of listings and removes them if prevention was unsuccessful.”

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Like its competitors, Wish has an explicit policy on “hateful symbols“: it does not allow them. Nazi memorabilia, the alt-right “Kekistan” flag, and “dictator glorification” are all expressly prohibited.

The company’s policy threatens to impose a $10 fine on those who sell prohibited items. The company spokesperson did not immediately respond when asked if the penalty had been imposed on those who listed the Confederate merchandise.

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