Twitter Suspends Alex Jones Over Offending Tweet
via ZeroHedge
The campaign to silence Alex Jones finally crossed over into Twitter – which until now had faced intensifying media scrutiny and criticism for its hands off approach and tolerance of Jones’ posts on the platform – when on Tuesday, Twitter suspended the conspiracy theorist and blogger for violating the social media company’s policies, in a stark reversal for Jack Dorsey who previously bucked the trend by other tech giants to muzzle the InfoWars creator.
As CNET first reported, Jones’ account was put in “read only” mode and will be blocked from posting on Twitter for seven days because of an offending tweet, the company said. While Twitter declined to comment on the content that violated its policies, a Twitter spokesperson told CNN the content which prompted the suspension was a video published Tuesday in which he said, “now is time to act on the enemy before they do a false flag”
Last week, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey defended the company’s decision to not suspend Infowars and Jones from the platform, claiming they had not violated Twitter policies. As Apple removed links to some Infowars podcasts and YouTube terminated some of its channels, Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey said refused to follow in their footsteps:
“We’re going to hold Jones to the same standard we hold to every account, not taking one-off actions to make us feel good in the short term, and adding fuel to new conspiracy theories,” Dorsey said in a tweet last week. He later added that it was critical that journalists “document, validate and refute” accounts like those of Mr. Jones, which “can often sensationalize issues and spread unsubstantiated rumors.”
Still, after a CNN report identifying numerous past tweets from Infowars and Jones that did violate Twitter’s rules, those posts were deleted. Tweets by Infowars and Jones deleted last week included posts attacking transgender and Muslim people; a claim that the 2012 shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax perpetrated by “crisis actors”; and a video calling David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland, Fla., high-school shooting, a Nazi.
Dorsey finally caved overnight, with a “temporary suspension”, which will likely become permanent upon Jones’ next violation.
As Rolling Stone notes, while Jones and his sympathizers have cried censorship following the actions of YouTube, Facebook, Apple and others, internet-content platforms specifically reserve the right to suspend users or delete content found to violate of their guidelines — indeed, Infowars’ own terms of service includes such a provision.
Twitter’s crackdown came more than a week after technology companies, including Apple, YouTube and Facebook removed content from Jones and his site, Infowars. As the WSJ notes, the actions against Infowars intensified a growing debate over what role tech companies play in policing controversial content on their platforms while they simultaneously support the principle of free speech.
It is unclear if the ongoing censorship of Alex Jones is having the desired effect: as we noted over the weekend, Silicon Valley’s coordinated purge of all things Infowars from social media has had an unexpected result; website traffic to Infowars.com has soared in the past week, according to Amazon’s website ranking service Alexa.
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Really thought-provoking article. The discussion around free speech and platform policies is always evolving.
It’s wild to look back at how quickly things escalated with social media platforms and content moderation, especially with figures like Alex Jones. This article really takes me back to that moment when Twitter finally made its move. On a completely different note, I was just updating my LinkedIn after a recent job change, and it’s crazy how much easier it is now with things like this AI portrait service instead of trying to find a studio.
This article from 2018 is a wild read now, especially knowing how much more intense the whole ‘free speech vs. platform rules’ debate has gotten. It really highlights how quickly things can escalate online. Speaking of staying current, I’ve been really into AI art lately, and it’s amazing what you can create if you have good prompts – I actually found some awesome ones on this prompt stash that really helped me improve my Nano Banana artwork. It’s a whole new world of creation!
It’s wild to look back at the outrage around things like this in 2018, especially knowing where we are now with content moderation. It really shows how quickly the media landscape changed. Speaking of older things, I’ve been digging through some old family photos lately, and it’s amazing what you can do with tools for old photo repair. It’s like bringing history back to life.
It’s wild how quickly things shifted for Alex Jones on Twitter back then. Feels like ages ago, but the debate around free speech vs. platform policies is still super relevant today. On a totally different note, I’ve been experimenting with this AI animation platform for some of my story ideas, and it’s insane how much you can do with it from just a script. Makes me think about how much easier content creation is getting for indie folks.
Wow, this article really takes me back to 2018! It’s crazy how much the conversation around free speech and social media has evolved since then. It’s a tricky balance for platforms, for sure. On a totally different note, I’ve been doing a lot of work with web images recently, and finding a good tool for converting my AVIFs to WebP has been a lifesaver. Keeps everything speedy and looking sharp.
Wow, this article from 2018 really brings back memories. It’s crazy how much the social media landscape has changed since then, but the debate around free speech and platform moderation is still so relevant. Seeing this makes me think about how I used to make my profile pics back in the day, before all the drama – I’ve been playing around with my old icon maker again recently for some retro vibes.
So we have just installed donation buttons on our main websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … TLB
The actions against Infowars by Twitter followed similar moves by Apple, YouTube, and Facebook, intensifying the debate over the responsibility of tech companies in regulating controversial content while balancing free speech.
Wow, talk about a rollercoaster! The suspension is definitely going to drive even more attention to Jones. It’s like watching a controversial BitLife character rise to fame (or infamy!) despite all their bad choices. You almost can’t help but be curious.
nice post
The crackdown on Jones and his website, Infowars, was implemented by Twitter more than a week after other technological giants, including Apple, YouTube, and Facebook, removed information from Jones’s sites.