Alex Jones and Infowars permanently banned from Twitter for abusive behaviour
Twitter has permanently banned Alex Jones and his Infowars show for abusive behaviour.
The company said the right-wing conspiracy theorist won’t be able to create new accounts on Twitter or take over existing ones.
It said it would continue to monitor reports about other accounts potentially associated with Mr Jones or Infowars, and will “take action” if it finds any attempts to circumvent the ban.
Mr Jones has previously used the platform to attack the relatives of children killed during the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre, which he has called a hoax.
In a video posted on the Infowars website on Thursday, Mr Jones said: ”I was taken down not because we lied but because we tell the truth and because we were popular.”
Twitter said he posted a video on on Wednesday which violates the company’s policy against “abusive behaviour”.
The video showed Mr Jones berating a CNN journalist, Oliver Darcy, for around 10 minutes in between two congressional hearings about alleged bias against conservatives on Twitter.
Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, testified at both hearings, but did not appear to witness the confrontation.
Mr Jones criticised Mr Darcy’s reporting and appearance, referencing his “skinny jeans” and repeatedly saying: “Just look at this guy’s eyes” and “look at that smile”.
At one point, he said Mr Darcy was “smiling like a possum that crawled out of the rear end of a dead cow. That’s what you look like. You look like a possum that got caught doing some really nasty stuff — in my view. You’re a public figure too.”
Mr Jones had around 900,000 followers on Twitter and Infowars had around 430,000.
Twitter previously suspended Mr Jones and Infowars for a week, citing tweets it said violated the company’s rules against abusive behaviour, which state a user may not engage in targeted harassment of someone or incite other people to do so.
Mr Jones remains active on Facebook after his suspension there recently expired.
Apple, YouTube and Spotify have also permanently removed material he has published.
