Alex Jones is not new to controversy. The outspoken conspiracy theorist host has made a name for himself by touting major news events (like the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting) as hoaxes, the notion that 9/11 was an inside job and spreading false information surrounding the protests in Charlottesville, Virginia last year.
His use of social media platforms to share his message has raised concerns and called into question these platform’s policies.
Earlier this week, Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey tweeted his company’s stance on not terminating Jones’ account by saying, “We know that’s hard for many but the reason is simple: he hasn’t violated our rules. We’ll enforce if he does. “
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. And we’ll continue to promote a healthy conversational environment by ensuring tweets aren’t artificially amplified.
— jack (@jack) August 8, 2018
Apple recently removed several of Jones’s podcasts from their iTunes store and YouTube and Facebook removed him from their platforms. NPR reported that this was due to, “citing repeated violations of policies against hate speech and glorifying violence.” Spotify also revoked Jones’s access.
Jones has described these terminations as, “election meddling just three months before crucial mid-terms,” and touted, “I am being unpersoned. … I am literally being disappeared.”
Dorsey has stood by his company’s stance to not terminate Jones’s account and has placed the burden onto journalists to document, validate and refute Jones’s tweets, so readers are able to form their own views regarding what is right and wrong, NPR reports.
Twitter has come under fire for their lenient policies and their rules are as follows:
Context matters when evaluating for abusive behavior and determining appropriate enforcement actions. Factors we may take into consideration include, but are not limited to whether:
- the behavior is targeted at an individual or group of people;
- the report has been filed by the target of the abuse or a bystander;
- the behavior is newsworthy and in the legitimate public interest.”
In the meantime, Twitter says they will be monitoring Jones’s account and will take action if necessary.