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By Yoree Koh 

Twitter Inc. on Thursday said it permanently banned Alex Jones and his website Infowars, effectively taking away one of the last few online microphones available to the right-wing provocateur.

While other tech companies including Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s YouTube previously suspended various accounts associated to Mr. Jones, Twitter had allowed him to remain on its platform. Twitter said Thursday its decision was based on reports of tweets and videos Mr. Jones posted in the past 24 hours "that violate our abusive-behavior policy, in addition to the accounts' past violations."

Among his recent posts was one video in which he berated and insulted a CNN reporter.

Twitter last month temporarily suspended Mr. Jones for seven days for violating its content policy.

Mr. Jones frequently touts discredited conspiracy theories, most notably labeling as a hoax the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed 20 children.

Infowars didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tech companies have had a tortured relationship with Mr. Jones, who has repeatedly tested their commitment to free expression on their platforms. The issue came to a head last month when Apple removed links to content from Infowars and eliminated access to five Infowars podcasts, including "The Alex Jones Show," from its directory. Next, YouTube eliminated channels related to Infowars and Facebook erased four pages run by Mr. Jones.

Following those actions, Mr. Jones has argued that Silicon Valley is suppressing his First Amendment rights and trying to muzzle conservative viewpoints.

Though Apple last month removed access to most of Infowars' podcasts across its devices, the tech company has continued to offer the app, saying it supports all points of view on its app store, so long as developers follow its guidelines. Those guidelines prohibit offensive, insensitive, upsetting and other objectionable content.

Twitter's move to permanently remove Mr. Jones from the site came a day after its CEO, Jack Dorsey, testified before Congress on election interference and potential political bias against conservatives that impacts how content is shown to users.

Mr. Jones was in the audience during part of the hearing and had several heated confrontations, including with Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), in the hallways outside.

Mr. Dorsey has said the company is trying to improve how it enforces its policies and articulates them to users. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Mr. Dorsey at times has frustrated some staffers by weighing in at the last minute on enforcement decisions. The firm said he is involved in the decision-making but doesn't overrule the decisions of his team.

Mr. Dorsey's involvement in such high-profile decisions wouldn't be unique. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was personally involved in the company's decision last month to suspend Mr. Jones's accounts, according to a person familiar with the matter. Facebook declined to comment on Mr. Zuckerberg's role in the decision.

Last month, Mr. Dorsey defended his firm's decision not to ban Mr. Jones.

"We didn't suspend Alex Jones or Infowars yesterday. We know that's hard for many but the reason is simple: He hasn't violated our rules. We'll enforce if he does," he tweeted on Aug. 7. "Truth is we've been terrible at explaining our decisions in the past. We're fixing that. 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."

Write to Yoree Koh at yoree.koh@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 06, 2018 19:57 ET (23:57 GMT)

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