Alex Jones Allowed Back on Twitter After Five Years of Ban
Summary from the AllSides News Team
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.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
Elon Musk reinstates Alex Jones on XElon Musk reinstated Alex Jones on X, citing a poll on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that showed 70.1% of respondents favored bringing back the Infowars host.
"Vox Populi, Vox Dei," Musk wrote beneath the poll posted Saturday, sharing the Latin saying meaning the voice of the people is the voice of God.
"The people have spoken and so it shall be," Musk then wrote early Sunday after more than 1.9 million people voted, according to the platform results.
A few hours later, Jones' posts were visible again, and...
From the Center
Elon Musk reactivates Alex Jones’ X account after a five-year banElon Musk on Sunday reinstated the account of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on X, formerly Twitter, reneging on a year-ago vow to keep Jones off the social network.
Jones was previously suspended from Twitter in 2018 for violating the company’s “abusive behavior policy.” That suspension, deemed permanent under the company’s prior management, came as Jones faced a defamation lawsuit for spreading the false claim that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax.
Musk’s decision to bring Jones back to X comes on the anniversary week of the Sandy Hook shooting.
Although 20 children and six...
From the Left
‘The people have spoken’: Elon Musk restores the X account of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after pollElon 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.
On Saturday morning, Musk posted an unscientific poll to his account asking users of the platform if Jones should be reinstated. By Saturday evening when the poll closed, about 70% of nearly 2 million respondents had voted “yes.”
Early Sunday morning, Musk replied to the poll saying,...
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