I try to remind myself that it's not as though there wasn't mind-boggling bad stuff in old canon. Crystal Star, Courtship of Princess Leia, certain bits of the Yuuzhan Vong, Dark Empire, the Sun Crusher, a bunch of stuff from the Clone Wars show (especially where it conflicted with the CW novels and comics), etc.
this. About a million times. Star wars fans are literally living in denial.
BIC is an alt-right/comicsgate-promoting right-wing cesspool of frequent false reporting and BS. They're pretty much the Daily Mail of media sites, and any story from them should be treated with caution.
STAR TREK also featured a character that was literally a rock (the Horta) in 1967, and of course The Thing has been a pretty major character in FANTASTIC FOUR since 1964. Silicon-based lifeforms are ten a penny in SF and STAR WARS has featured them before (the fyrnocks for one, and the mynocks from EMPIRE STRIKES BACK feed on silicon when they haven't got beached starships to eat).
Complaining that the HIGH REPUBLIC kids' book line is juvenile and silly seems a bit redundant.
Oh man, how did they get him away from Star Fleet Command!
Damn, Star Wars became Star Trek so suddenly no even noticed.