Alex Jones Allowed Back on Twitter After Five Years of Ban

Infowars host Alex Jones was allowed back on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday after a poll run by owner Elon Musk received 70% of votes in favor of doing so.

For Context: Jones, who is widely accused of spreading conspiracy theories, was banned in 2018 under Twitter’s old ownership. Musk, who’s unbanned many accounts since taking over, previously said he would not restore Jones’ account because of his false claims about the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting. Musk recently accused corporate advertisers boycotting the platform of trying to “blackmail” him with money and told them to “go f*ck” themselves.

Key Quotes: Musk said if Jones is reinstated, it could “be bad for X financially,” but “principles matter more than money.” He also said Jones “cannot break the law” and that the Community Notes fact-checking feature "will respond rapidly to any AJ post that needs correction."

How The Media Covered It: CNN (Lean Left bias) called Jones a “right-wing extremist” and “notorious conspiracy theorist,” and Musk’s poll “unscientific.” It also mentioned Jones’ recent interview with “another right-wing extremist,” Tucker Carlson (Right bias), and called X a “troubled platform” that is seeing “hate speech and conspiracy theories surge.” CNBC (Center bias) and Fox News (Right bias) referred to Jones without labels in their headlines, but CNBC labeled him a conspiracy theorist in the body of the text. Fox News said before Musk’s takeover, Twitter “rarely banned anyone not associated with former President Trump,” citing Iran’s ayatollah and the Taliban as examples.