Elon Musk, persisting in his efforts to transform X into a haven for "free speech" despite potential harm to the company's business, announced the reinstatement of far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' account.
In 2018, Twitter suspended Jones and his Infowars program. Last year, he was directed to pay almost $1.5 billion to the families of Sandy Hook victims due to his false and outrageous claims about the 2012 school shooting, where 20 children and six adults lost their lives.
Elon Musk's Decision and Polls
Musk announced the reinstatement of Jones on X/Twitter, revealing that the decision was influenced by a poll he conducted among his extensive following of over 165 million users. Most respondents, comprising 70% of the votes out of 2 million participants, supported the move.
Musk stated that the decision reflected the people's will on Saturday evening. In a subsequent message, he expressed confidence that X's Wikipedia-style user annotations feature, Community Notes, would promptly address any inaccuracies in Alex Jones' posts.
Earlier on Saturday, Musk expressed strong disagreement with Alex Jones' statements about Sandy Hook but posed a fundamental question about X's identity, asking whether it stands for freedom of speech. Musk acknowledged that reinstating Jones might have financial repercussions for X if chosen by the users but emphasized that principles hold greater importance than monetary considerations.
Financial Consequences
As Musk hinted, bringing back Jones won't improve X's chances of convincing major advertisers to purchase ads on the platform. In the previous month, significant advertisers like Disney, Apple, and Comcast/NBCUniversal paused ad spending on X due to Musk's endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory (which he later apologized for). During the New York Times' DealBook Summit, Musk strongly criticized departing advertisers, telling them, "Go fuck yourself."
Twitter, along with YouTube, Facebook, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts, banned Jones and Infowars in 2018 due to violations of hate-speech and harassment policies. Musk decided to reinstate Jones on Twitter after declining user requests in November 2022. In a post, Musk explained his decision, expressing a lack of mercy for anyone exploiting the deaths of children for personal gain, politics, or fame, citing the unique experience of his firstborn child's death.
Alex Jones' Reinstatement
This week, Alex Jones indirectly returned to X/Twitter by appearing on Tucker Carlson's show, hosted on the platform. Jones drew Elon Musk's attention when he mentioned trending on X/Twitter and users asking Musk to bring him back, given Musk's stance on free speech. Despite acknowledging the unlikelihood of Musk reinstating him on X, Jones expressed concern that organizations like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) could pressure Twitter if it happened. Carlson introduced Jones on his X show as "the most censored man in the English language."
Legal Issues and Bankruptcy
The families of Sandy Hook victims sued Jones as he called the mass murder a "giant hoax" and falsely claimed it was staged by "crisis actors" where no one died. He also accused parents of collusion with the U.S. government to restrict gun rights, leading to civil suits in Connecticut and Texas, which he lost and filed for bankruptcy protection. Additionally, Jones has also accused the U.S. government of orchestrating the 9/11 attacks, making inflammatory remarks about NFL players' protests as "kneeling to white genocide," attacking transgender and Muslim individuals, and suggesting Lady Gaga's 2017 Super Bowl halftime show was a satanic ritual.
"The Voice of the People is the Voice of God"
Soon after Musk closed the Twitter deal in October 2022, the tech billionaire polled whether Donald Trump should be reinstated. That vote narrowly favored Trump, and Musk reactivated the ex-president's account. Musk commented on the Trump poll, "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" (a Latin phrase that translates as "The voice of the people is the voice of God"), which he also used on the user poll about Alex Jones.
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