Small business owners and entrepreneurs have flocked to Etsy since its founding as a global marketplace focused on handmade and vintage items. The e-commerce giant boasts 4.3 million sellers and 81 million buyers on the platform, and its ease of setup has been hailed by sellers.
But the site is quickly becoming notorious for its policies on removing sellers and items without explanation, and while most of those removals are focused on keeping the platform secure for buyers and scam-free, the policy has created true victims as well.
One entrepreneur had her content banned and her account suspended from Etsy in what appears to be a politically-motivated move.
Isabel, who describes herself as “an artist, a mother, a designer and a digital creator” is the owner of Waking Warriors, an online shop that features her one-of-a-kind art creations. In the lead up to the holiday, Isabel featured her unique handmade ornaments. And while these would normally be a shoe-in for Etsy selling, Isabel’s ornaments were subsequently banned from the site.
Her crime? Calling out the government on the ornaments with pithy statements.
One ornament reads, “The government lies,” while another reads “Taxation is theft,” and a third says “Alex Jones was right.”
In an Instagram post telling her followers about the company’s policy, Isabel wrote:
“Etsy will ban cute, wholesome and truthful handmade creations while promoting disturbing, vile, and dare I say demonic items all day long. This marketplace in which I was a loyal, five star, even “star“ seller (their word not mine) has chosen to permanently suspend me not once, but twice, on two separate accounts. It’s their loss!!”
She continued, “Thank you all so much for your patience and support, and for sticking by me every time I get deplatformed!! We will get back up and keep going no matter how many times they knock us down 🙏If our voices held no power they wouldn’t be trying to silence us!!!”
The post featured Isabel’s handcrafted ornaments next to images of creations that Etsy allows to be sold on the platform, including a sticker that reads “Abortion is Rad” and a shirt that says “Not a member of your little book club” with an image of a burning bible.
Isabel’s followers were quick to point out the double standard that Etsy has for its sellers based on political motivation, with progressive and far-left ideology being allowed and even championed, while any content that questions the government or control is banned.
Isabel’s art, including the handmade ornaments, are available for purchase at her website, where she “…will have freedom of speech and my first amendment rights cannot be infringed!”
For more information or to purchase her artwork, visit https://newearthco.shop/.
