Social media platform X reinstated the account of US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after a poll of the site’s users backed his return, X owner Elon Musk said on Sunday.
“The people have spoken and so it shall be,” Musk posted in reply to a poll on Saturday on whether to reinstate the Jones account. Close to 2 million votes were cast by the time the poll closed, with about 70 per cent voting in favour of Jones’ return.
In a post following the completion of the poll, he said X would “abide by the will of the people.”
The move poses new uncertainty for advertisers, who have fled X over concerns about hate speech appearing alongside their ads.
Alex Jones files for bankruptcy following US$1.5 billion Sandy Hook verdicts
Alex Jones files for bankruptcy following US$1.5 billion Sandy Hook verdicts
Musk, who has described himself as a free speech absolutist, said the move was about protecting those rights. In response to a user who posted that “permanent account bans are antithetical to free speech,” Musk wrote, “I find it hard to disagree with this point.”
Since Musk’s takeover of the platform, it has reinstated previously suspended accounts including that of former US President Donald Trump.
The platform formerly known as Twitter permanently banned Jones and his website Infowars in 2018, saying that the accounts had violated its behaviour policies.
Permanent suspension, its most severe action, removes the account from global review and prevents the person from creating new accounts.
The ban came weeks after Apple, Alphabet’s YouTube, and Facebook took down podcasts and channels from Jones, citing community standards.
Alex Jones, who has promoted conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook school shooting, was ordered last year to pay nearly US$1.5 billion in damages to relatives of the victims for falsely claiming they were actors who staged the shooting as part of a government plot to seize Americans’ guns.
This month, he was given clearance by a court to sell his firearms, cars, jewellery and boats on the Infowars show to obtain the highest value for them in covering the cost of his bankruptcy.
Restoring Jones’ account comes as Musk has seen a slew of big brands, including Disney and IBM, stop advertising on X after a report by liberal advocacy group Media Matters said ads were appearing alongside pro-Nazi content and white nationalist posts.
Elon Musk visits Israel after criticism for endorsing antisemitic post
Elon Musk visits Israel after criticism for endorsing antisemitic post
They also were scared away after Musk himself endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory in response to a post on X. The Tesla CEO later apologised and visited Israel, where he toured a kibbutz attacked by Hamas militants and held talks with top Israeli leaders.
But he also said advertisers are engaging in “blackmail” and, using a profanity, essentially told them to go away.
“Don’t advertise,” Musk said in an onstage interview late last month at The New York Times DealBook Summit.
Reporting by Reuters, Bloomberg, Associated Press