Amazon confirmed Wednesday to the Daily Caller that it blocked a man’s smart home after he claimed one of his drivers made racist remarks to an automatic doorbell.
In a video shared on Monday by YouTuber Luis Rothman, Amazon claimed to have shut down one of its viewers’ smart homes. He then detailed the process required to get the device back up and running. It all started when an Amazon delivery driver dropped off a package at the man’s house. The smart doorphone said something like “Can I help you?” to the driver. But the driver, who was allegedly wearing headphones, claimed the device made racist remarks.
Following the allegations, Amazon has stopped selling homeowners’ smart home products. After considerable communication and internal research, the company has decided to remove control over them.
The Daily Caller contacted Amazon to confirm the veracity of Rothman’s and his viewers’ claims. The company was asked if the content of the video was accurate, if it restricted the use of purchased products based on uninvestigated claims, and if any of these were true, if there was a solution.
“We are committed to providing our customers with a great experience while at the same time providing peace of mind to drivers delivering Amazon packages. “We are aware of this and are working directly with our customers to resolve their concerns and are looking at ways to prevent similar situations from happening again,” said Amazon spokeswoman Simone Griffin. The Daily Caller said in her statement. (Related: Europe threatens to ban Twitter for allowing free speech)
Amazon did not immediately respond to subsequent inquiries.
Watch Rothman’s original video here: