Alex Jones has been banned from Twitter (now X), YouTube, Facebook and Spotify. His bank accounts were closed and he was sued for more than $1 billion in damages. Many media outlets are forbidden from mentioning Jones to keep his message out. Jones, however, has never been convicted of a crime and has never advocated violence. To try to silence Jones seems like an overreach. Elon Musk is considering allowing him to return to X at the urging of users.
Jack Dorsey’s Twitter banned Jones in the months following his mass de-platforming by other tech companies back in September 2018. The ban was for something relatively minor in Alex Jones’ career. A video that attacked CNN journalist Oliver Darcy between congressional hearings. Twitter banned Jones’ InfoWars account and Jones himself for “abusive behavior” after Jones confronted a journalist. It was a thin reason to ban him from Twitter, something the social media giant wanted to do.
Dorsey didn’t ban Jones initially because he claimed Jones “hasn’t violated [our] rules,” making it clear that they were monitoring him at the time to force the issue. Liberals applauded the ban when it happened, including Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone who ironically accused Jones of trying to “threaten, belittle and demean individuals.”
Conservatives and Libertarians noticed that this was just the beginning of Big Tech’s overreach. As sites like Twitter and YouTube claimed to be “fighting misinformation,” there was soon mass censorship around the 2020 election.
A video of Jones begging to be allowed on X again went viral on Dec. 7. YouTuber Jeremy Hambly (aka “TheQuartering”) shared it. Elon Musk was tagged in the video. He said, “Think of how much the machine would rage if Alex Jones were to return on X. @elonmusk.” It’s time.”
Musk replied, “Will consider. Since this platform is aspired to be the global village square, permanent bans should be rare. If he says something false, @CommunityNotes is going to correct him. This would not happen elsewhere. Let’s do a poll.”
Carlson posted a video interview of an hour and a half that Carlson conducted with Jones on X. The interview showed that Jones may have said some bombastic things, but he was also right most of the time in his analysis of globalism and the deep state. One wondered why Alex Jones couldn’t post to the platform if he could be interviewed by X via video.
Ep. 46 The Alex Jones Interview
TIMESTAMPS:
2:46 Alex Jones predictions
15:07 Deplatforming
21:59 Dividing us on race
25:37 The border
28:09 Austin
32:12 New World Order
42:09 Brian Stelter demon video
50:57 Depopulation
1:07:51 Food
1:13:51 Whiskey
1:16:22 Presidential… pic.twitter.com/IsJAQDUzDc— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) December 7, 2023
Musk, who had promised to poll platform users on Jones’ suspension on Dec. 9, followed through on that promise. He wrote, “Reinstate Alex Jones to this platform?” Vox Populi, Vox Dei.”
Over 70% of X users voted to reinstate Jones on the platform. The poll showed that free speech was the winner. Musk then followed through on his promise and reinstated the @realalexjones Twitter account. Musk responded to the poll by saying, “The people spoke and so it shall.”
