Elon Musk has restored conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ X account, pointing to a poll on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that came out in favor of the Infowars host, who repeatedly called the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting a a deception
He poses new uncertainty for advertisers, who have fled X over concerns about hate speech appearing alongside their ads, and is the latest divisive public personality to get his banned account back.
Musk published a survey on Saturday asking whether Jones should be reinstated, and the results showed 70% of those responding in favor. early Sunday, Musk tweeted“The people have spoken and so it will be.”
A few hours later, Jones’ posts were visible again and he retweeted a post about his video game. He and his show Infowars had been permanently banned in 2018 for abusive behavior.
Musk, who has described himself as a free speech absolutist, said the move was aimed at protecting those rights. In response to a user who posted that “permanent account bans are the antithesis of free speech,” musk wrote“I find it difficult to disagree with this point.”
Tesla’s billionaire CEO too tweeted Community Notes, X’s fact-checking service, is likely to “respond quickly to any AJ posts that need correction.”
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has had his X account reinstated. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
It’s a major shift for Musk, who previously said he would not allow Jones to return to the platform despite repeated calls for him to do so. Last year, Musk mentioned the death of his first-born child, tweeting: “I have no mercy for anyone who uses the deaths of children for profit, politics or fame.”
Jones has repeatedly said on his show that the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, which killed 20 children and six educators, never happened and was staged in an effort to tighten gun laws.
Relatives of many of the victims sued Jones in Connecticut and Texas, winning nearly $1.5 billion in judgments against him. In October, a judge ruled that Jones could not use bankruptcy protection to avoid paying more than $1.1 billion of that debt.
Musk posted a poll on X asking his followers if Jones should get his account back. AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, swimming pool, file
Family members of school shooting victims testified at trials about being harassed and threatened by Jones believers, who sent threats and even confronted grieving families in person, accusing them of being “crisis actors.” whose children never existed.
Jones is appealing the sentences, saying he did not get fair trials and that his speech was protected by the First Amendment.
The restoration of Jones’ account comes as Musk has seen a number of big brands, including Disney and IBM, stop advertising on pro-Nazi and white nationalist publications.
They were also spooked after Musk himself endorsed an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory in response to a post on X.
The Tesla CEO later apologized and visited Israel, where he toured a kibbutz attacked by Hamas militants and held talks with top Israeli leaders.
But he has also said that advertisers are engaging in “blackmail” and, using a profanity, basically told them to go away.
“Don’t advertise,” Musk said in an onstage interview late last month at the New York Times DealBook Summit.
After purchasing Twitter last year, Musk said he was granting an “amnesty” for suspended accounts and has since reinstated former President Donald Trump; Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, following two suspensions for anti-Semitic posts last year; and far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was banned from the platform for violating its COVID-19 misinformation policies.
Trump, who was banned for encouraging the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, has his own social media site, Truth Social, and has only tweeted once since being allowed back on X.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn