Twitter Permanently Bans Alex Jones After New Violations -- 3rd Update
September 06 2018 - 8:12PM
Dow Jones News
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)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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