![]() ![]() Twitter’s then-decision to permanently ban Jones came a day after the right-wing extremist hatefully accosted CNN reporter Oliver Darcy on Capitol Hill, and livestreamed the encounter on the platform.ĭarcy had become a top target of Jones for aggressively reporting on his lies and hateful behavior. Twitter permanently suspended Jones and other accounts linked to his website, Infowars, in 2018, citing abusive behavior and following similar moves by YouTube, Apple and Facebook. Musk has also reinstated the account of Donald Trump and welcomed back extremists and racists banned before he took control of the website. Restoring Jones’ account is in line with the decisions made by Musk since acquiring the social media company for $44 billion last year. Courts have ordered Jones to pay the families of the Sandy Hook victims more than $1 billion in damages for his lies about the shooting, which tormented the parents of the children who died and resulted in a tsunami of real-world harassment aimed at them. Jones most notoriously suggested that the Sandy Hook massacre that left 20 children and six adults dead was a hoax. He has a lengthy history of spreading demonstrably false and hateful conspiracy theories on various issues. ![]() Jones is known as one of the world’s leading purveyors of dis- and misinformation. The right-wing campaign seemingly persuaded Musk, who said he disagreed with Jones’ Sandy Hook comments but rhetorically asked, “Are we a platform that believes in freedom of speech or are we not?” in a post on X Saturday. But in recent days, following an interview with Tucker Carlson - another extremist right-wing personality who was fired by Fox News earlier this year - there has been significant pressure aimed at Musk from Jones’ right-wing allies demanding his account be restored. Musk said last year that he would not lift the ban on Jones because of his false claims that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. Musk acknowledged Saturday that reinstating Jones would “be bad for X financially,” but he argued “principles matter more than money.” Musk has sought to portray himself as a free speech absolutist, though he has taken action to curtail the speech of critics. But the advertiser boycott has continued, which Musk has said could result in the eventual death of the company. Musk apologized days later for his post amid a storm of backlash. The move from the billionaire Musk, who has promoted conspiracy theories himself and elevated a number of extremist voices since taking over the platform, is likely to impact X even further as companies distance themselves from the troubled platform, which has seen hate speech and conspiracy theories surge in the wake of his decisions.Ī slew of major advertisers has left the platform in recent weeks over concerns about brand safety and hate speech, prompted by Musk himself endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory in November. Jones’ account was active as of early Sunday morning. By Saturday evening when the poll closed, about 70% of nearly 2 million respondents had voted “yes.”Įarly Sunday morning, Musk replied to the poll saying, “The people have spoken and so it shall be.” On Saturday morning, Musk posted an unscientific poll to his account asking users of the platform if Jones should be reinstated. Elon Musk said the account of right-wing extremist Alex Jones would be reinstated on X, formerly known as Twitter, reversing a 2018 decision by the company’s previous management to deplatform the notorious conspiracy theorist after he repeatedly broke rules prohibiting harassment and hate.
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