YouTube 'reprimands InfoWars' for promoting Florida school shooting conspiracy theory
A far-right site known for its false and outlandish conspiracy theories has reportedly been reprimanded by YouTube after it posted a video which suggester survivors of the Florida school shooting were actors.
InfoWars' biggest YouTube account, The Alex Jones Channel, is reported to have received one strike from the video-sharing site for the video.
YouTube’s community guidelines stipulate the account will be shut down altogether if it gets three strikes in the space of three months, a source told CNN.
The channel, which is hosted by far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, posted a video about David Hogg, who survived the Valentines Day bloodshed which left 17 dead.
The clip took screenshots of an interview Mr Hogg did with KCBS in order to falsely claim he and other students were "crisis actors".
The video – titled “David Hogg can’t remember his lines in TV interview" – was removed by YouTube for breaching its policies on bullying and harassment.
Mr Hogg, one of the most outspoken survivors of the shooting, gained headlines after it emerged he had interviewed class mates while the massacre was taking place and gave an interview where he looked into the camera and urged politicians to deliver change.
Jones, who has been dubbed America’s leading conspiracy theorist and a prominent voice of the so-called “alt-right” movement in the US, is famed for his far-fetched and erroneous conspiracy theories.
The host, whose channel has received over a billion views and 2.2 million subscribers, has suggested the Sandy Hook school shooting of 20 young children was staged, that the September 11 attacks of 2001 was an inside job and that the baseless reports about Hillary Clinton being part of a Washington pizzeria child sex abuse ring warrant serious investigation.
He has also claimed the US government puts chemicals into the water supply to turn people gay so they do not have children.
Mr Hogg has become a target for a number of false conspiracy theories in the far-right media accusing him of being paid to play a victim of the shooting in order to push an anti-gun agenda.
Earlier in the week, YouTube condemned a similar video branding Mr Hogg a crisis actor - one of its most popular videos. A spokesperson for YouTube said the video was removed from the site "for violating our policies."
Mr Hogg was forced to defend himself on CNN after a tweet about the conspiracy theory was “liked” by Donald Trump Jr.
“I’m just so sorry that these people have lost their faith in America, because I know I certainly haven’t,” he said.
The survivor said it was “disturbing” to hear he was being accused of being an actor. “It’s unbelievable to me that people are saying this,” he said.
Other survivors have been the subject of conspiracy theories claiming they are “crisis actors” simply pretending to have been caught up in the deadly violence at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Conspiracy claims have spread across Facebook and Twitter and commentators have made jokes and claimed students are being “used” by anti-Trump press. An aide to a Florida politician was fired for suggesting two teens were merely actors pretending to be students.
YouTube and InfoWars did not immediately respond to request for comment.
