Twitter has permanently suspended the accounts of Alex Jones and Infowars show, citing abusive behavior. The ban comes only a month after several tech giants, including Facebook and Spotify, removed content of the right-wing conspiracy theorist from their platforms.
Twitter said it will not allow him to create new accounts or recreate his presence using any existing ones for violating its policy against hate speech. The social media company took the decision after far-right provocateur livestreamed himself verbally attacking CNN journalist Oliver Darcy to his face, telling him that he has “the eyes of a rat.”
“Today, we permanently suspended @realalexjones and @infowars from Twitter and Periscope. We took this action based on new reports of Tweets and videos posted yesterday that violate our abusive behavior policy, in addition to the accounts’ past violations,” Twitter said.
The San Francisco-based company had previously handed Jones a one-week ban after he shared a link to a video calling on his supporters to take up arms against mainstream media. The temporary suspension prevented him from tweeting or retweeting from his account.
The conspiracy theorist harassed Darcy outside a congressional hearing where Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey was testifying about anti-conservative bias and election interference on the network.
Jones uses his Infowars website and social media accounts to spread unsubstantiated claims regarding tragic events, such as the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. He is currently facing several lawsuits filed people who accuse him of defamation.
Infowars was founded in 1999 and he has since used the website to attract a massive audience. In 2013, Jones dismissed the Sandy Hook shooting in which 6 adults and twenty children were killed, saying it was a hoax. He also falsely claims that the 9/11 attacks were planned by the U.S. government.
Shares of social media companies were down in the regular trading session on Thursday. Twitter and Facebook dipped 5.9% and 3.2% respectively, as Snapchat parent Snap Inc. descended 2.2%.
Twitter Inc. Company Profile
Twitter, Inc. operates as a platform for public self-expression and conversation in real time. The company offers various products and services, including Twitter that allows users to consume, create, distribute, and discover content; and Periscope, a mobile application that enables user to broadcast and watch video live with others.
It also provides promoted products and services, such as promoted tweets, promoted accounts, and promoted trends, which enable its advertisers to promote their brands, products, and services.
The company offers a set of tools, public APIs, and embeddable widgets for developers to contribute their content to its platform, syndicate and distribute Twitter content across their properties, and enhance their Websites and applications with Twitter content.
Further, it provides subscription access to its public data feed for data partners. The company has operations in the United States and internationally. Twitter was founded by Jack Dorsey, Christopher Isaac Stone, Noah E. Glass, Jeremy LaTrasse, and Evan Williams on March 21, 2006. Its headquarters are based in San Francisco, California. –CNNMoney
