Elon Musk has revived conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ X account, pointing to a poll on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that favored the Infowars host who repeatedly called the 2012 Sandy Hook school a hoax.
It creates new uncertainty for advertisers, who have fled X because of concerns about hate speech appearing with their ads, and is the latest divisive public figure to get their banned accounts back.
musk post a poll on Saturday asked whether Jones should be reinstated, with results showing 70% of those who responded were in favor. early sunday, Musk tweeted“The people have spoken and so it shall be.”
A few hours later, Jones’ post reappeared and he retweeted a post about his video game. He and his show Infowars were permanently banned in 2018 for abusive behavior.
Musk, who describes himself as an absolute champion of free speech, said the move was about protecting those rights. In response to a user who posted that “account bans remain against free speech,” Musk wrote“I find it hard to disagree with this.”
Billionaire Tesla CEO too tweeted it’s likely that Community Notes — X’s crowdsourced fact-checking service — “will respond quickly to any AJ posts that require correction.”
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has reinstated his account on X. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
It’s a big change for Musk, who previously said he would not allow Jones to return to the platform despite repeated calls to do so. Last year, Musk referred to the death of his firstborn and tweeted, “I have no compassion for anyone who would use the death of a child for profit, politics or fame.”
Jones 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 in debt.
Musk created a poll on X asking followers if Jones should get his account back. AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool, File
Relatives of school shooting victims testified at the trial about being harassed and threatened by Jones followers, who sent threats and even confronted grieving families in person, accusing them of being “crisis actors” whose children never existed.
Jones appealed the verdict, saying he did not get a fair trial and that his speech is protected by the First Amendment.
The reinstatement of Jones’ account comes as Musk has seen many big brands, including Disney and IBM, stop advertising on X after a report by liberal advocacy group Media Matters said ads appeared alongside pro-Nazi content and white nationalist posts.
They were also scared after Musk himself endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory in response to a post on X.
Tesla’s CEO later apologized and visited Israel, where he visited a kibbutz attacked by Hamas militants and held talks with Israel’s top leaders.
But he also said advertisers engaged in “extortion” and, using 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 buying Twitter last year, Musk said he granted an “amnesty” for the suspended account and has since reinstated former President Donald Trump; Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, following two antisemitic suspensions last year; and most senior Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was removed from the platform for violating the COVID-19 misinformation policy.
Trump, who was banned for encouraging a Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, has his own social media site, Truth Social, and has only tweeted once since being allowed back on X.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
