Kindle Direct Publishing sells itself as a way for writers to bypass the traditional publishing industry, but it keeps them tethered to Amazon’s monopoly. Authors trade creative independence for a platform that dictates pricing, takes a massive cut, and locks their work inside Amazon’s closed system. Every book sold through KDP helps bankroll a corporation built on worker exploitation, surveillance, and political complicity.
Amazon is rated High Impact because its harms are systemic and interlocking.
Environmental Harm: Delivery fleets, aviation cargo, and data centers generate massive emissions and plastic waste, while public pledges mask lobbying against climate regulation.
Human Rights Violations: Workers face surveillance, injury-level quotas, and unsafe delivery speeds. Migrant workers in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere face wage theft and coercion.
Military & Conflict Complicity: AWS is central to surveillance states. Project Nimbus embeds Amazon in Israel’s occupation and war crimes, supplying AI and data services to its military and government.
The result: consumer spending that powers a machine which entrenches inequality, accelerates climate collapse, and sustains state violence worldwide.