Alex Jones has built a cult following online by sharing outlandish conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has returned to X – formerly Twitter – by reposting a message by controversial influencer Andrew Tate.

Tate’s message praised both Jones and X owner Elon Musk, claiming: “We’re back”

His account was reinstated after a poll by Musk, with 70% of roughly two million respondents voting to lift the ban.

Jones is most notorious for falsely claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was staged.

He was ordered to pay $1.5bn (£1.32bn) in damages to family members of the victims, after courts found he had caused them to be subjected to harassment and death threats with his false claims.

Jones, who founded the conspiracy theory website Infowars, was removed from other major platforms, including YouTube and Facebook.

He was banned from Twitter in 2018 for breaching the site’s rules on abusive behaviour.

Andrew Tate, who was also previously banned from the site before having his account reinstated last year, is a self-proclaimed misogynist influencer who is facing trial in Romania charged with rape, human trafficking and forming an organised crime group to sexually exploit women – which he denies

He also defended Jones in a social media post on Saturday, calling him a “hero”.

Elon Musk bought X in October 2022 and initially rejected calls from some of Jones’s supporters to reinstate his account.

In one post, he cited the death of his 10-week old baby in 2002 as motivation for not reversing the ban, writing: “I have no mercy for anyone who would use the death of children for gain, politics or fame.”

But on Saturday Musk asked users to vote on whether or not Jones should be allowed to return – a repeat of the move which saw former US President Donald Trump’s account reinstated a month after Musk took over the firm. Mr Trump has only posted once since his ban was lifted.

After Musk posted the poll, Jones shared a video online in which he called on his supporters to vote in favour of his ban being overturned.

Jones’s old account was reinstated hours after the poll ended.

Responding to one user on Saturday, Musk said he “vehemently” disagreed with Jones’s statements about Sandy Hook, adding: “but are we a platform that believes in freedom of speech or are we not?”

He said the move would be “bad for X financially” but “principles matter more than money”.

Musk has taken an increasingly bullish line on free speech online during his time at the top of X.

Last month he accused major advertisers of trying to “blackmail” him when they boycotted X over concerns about antisemitic content shared on the site – including a post by Musk himself, which he later apologised for.

Source

31 comments
  1. I would like to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in writing this web site. I’m hoping the same high-grade web site post from you in the upcoming as well. Actually your creative writing skills has inspired me to get my own website now. Actually the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a great example of it.

  2. Howdy just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your content seem to be running off the screen in Ie. I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know. The layout look great though! Hope you get the problem fixed soon. Thanks

  3. Hey, you used to write wonderful, but the last several posts have been kinda boring… I miss your great writings. Past few posts are just a little out of track! come on!

  4. Hey There. I discovered your weblog using msn. That is a very well written article. I will make sure to bookmark it and return to learn extra of your useful information. Thank you for the post. I will certainly return.

  5. I’d have to examine with you here. Which is not one thing I usually do! I take pleasure in reading a post that may make folks think. Additionally, thanks for permitting me to comment!

  6. Greetings from Florida! I’m bored at work so I decided to check out your site on my iphone during lunch break. I enjoy the information you present here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m surprised at how quick your blog loaded on my phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, superb blog!

  7. When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove people from that service? Thanks!

  8. Hi there very cool site!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your blog and take the feeds alsoKI’m happy to seek out a lot of useful information right here within the submit, we’d like work out extra strategies in this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .

  9. I am typically to running a blog and i actually admire your content. The article has actually peaks my interest. I’m going to bookmark your site and preserve checking for brand new information.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Time travel: What if you met your future self?

By Hal Hershfield15th November 2023 Imagining a conversation with “future you” has…

Can AI cut humans out of contract negotiations?

By Sean McManus Technology Reporter “Lawyers are tired. They’re bored a lot…

Nasa astronaut Frank Rubio has just returned from a record-breaking 371 days in space onboard the ISS, but the trip may have altered his muscles, brain and even the bacteria living in his gut.

With a few handshakes, a brief photoshoot and a wave, Nasa astronaut…

OpenAI staff demand board resign over Sam Altman sacking

By Chris Vallance, Annabelle Liang & Zoe Kleinman Technology and business reporters…

Black Women in Cybersecurity Initiative

About this event 1 hour Mobile eTicket Overview The Black Women in…

Xi Jinping arrives in the US as his Chinese Dream sputters

By Tessa Wong Asia Digital Reporter, BBC News When Xi Jinping stepped…

AI: EU agrees landmark deal on regulation of artificial intelligence

European Union officials have reached a provisional deal on the world’s first…

The race to buy AI website addresses

By David Silverberg Technology reporter When tech entrepreneur Ian Leaman needed to…