It’s not been a good week for alt-right radio personality Alex Jones. First a range of social networks and websites booted him off their platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple. Then, YouPorn joined in and said the InfoWars host was banned from their site too (even though there wasn’t actually any Alex Jones content on there, thank God).
But it looks like one social media platform is sticking by the controversial conspiracy theorist, who in the past has declared that 9/11 and the Sandy Hook massacre are hoaxes (the latter of which he is currently being sued for), despite a lack of evidence to support these claims.
Jack Dorsey, the CEO and co-founder of Twitter, said the micro-blogging site would not block Jones as he hasn’t violated any of the network’s rules.
He explained the decision in a series of tweets earlier today
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
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.
— jack (@jack) August 8, 2018
If we succumb and simply react to outside pressure, rather than straightforward principles we enforce (and evolve) impartially regardless of political viewpoints, we become a service that’s constructed by our personal views that can swing in any direction. That’s not us.
— jack (@jack) August 8, 2018
Accounts like Jones’ can often sensationalize issues and spread unsubstantiated rumors, so it’s critical journalists document, validate, and refute such information directly so people can form their own opinions. This is what serves the public conversation best.
— jack (@jack) August 8, 2018
Jones response to the removal of his content by tech giants is “censorship,” while others have applauded the platforms for standing up to hate speech.
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