How Elon Musk Gave Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones a Second Chance on X

(iexclusivenews) – Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, has surprised many by restoring the X account of Alex Jones, a notorious conspiracy theorist who claimed that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.

Musk cited a poll on the social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, that showed most users supporting Jones’ reinstatement. 

This decision raises new questions for advertisers, who have been avoiding X due to its association with hate speech and extremist content and marks the return of another controversial figure to the online public sphere. 

The Poll That Changed Everything

On Saturday, Elon Musk posted a poll on X, asking his followers if Jones should be allowed back on the platform. The results overwhelmingly favored Jones, with 70% of the respondents voting yes. Early Sunday, Musk tweeted, “The people have spoken and so it shall be.” 

A few hours later, Jones’ posts were back on X, and he retweeted a post about his video game. Jones and his Infowars show had been permanently banned in 2018 for violating X’s rules on abusive behavior. 

Elon Musk, who has described himself as a free speech absolutist, said the move was about defending 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.” 

The billionaire entrepreneur also tweeted that Community Notes, X’s crowd-sourced fact-checking service, “will respond rapidly to any AJ post that needs correction.” 

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The U-Turn of Elon Musk

This is a major reversal for Elon Musk, who previously said he would not let Jones back on the platform, despite repeated calls from his supporters. Last year, Musk referred to the death of his first-born child and tweeted, “I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame.” 

Jones has repeatedly said on his show that the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, that killed 20 children and six educators, never happened and was staged by the government to push for gun control. 

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 of that debt. 

Relatives of the school shooting victims testified at the trials about being harassed and threatened by Jones’ followers, who sent them messages and even confronted them in person, accusing them of being “crisis actors” whose children never existed. 

Jones is appealing the judgments, saying he did not get fair trials and his speech was protected by the First Amendment. 

The Advertiser Exodus from X

Restoring Jones’ account comes as Musk has faced a backlash from advertisers, who have pulled out of X after a report by liberal advocacy group Media Matters said ads were appearing next to pro-Nazi and white nationalist content. 

They were also alarmed by Musk’s own endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory in response to a post on X. The Tesla CEO later apologized and visited Israel, where he toured a kibbutz attacked by Hamas militants and held talks with top Israeli leaders. 

But he also said advertisers were engaging in “blackmail” and, using a profanity, essentially told them to go away. 

“Don’t advertise,” Musk said in an on-stage interview late last month at The New York Times DealBook Summit. 

The Amnesty for Suspended Accounts

After buying Twitter last year, Elon Musk said he was granting “amnesty” for suspended accounts and has since reinstated former President Donald Trump; Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, following two suspensions over antisemitic posts last year; and far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was kicked off the platform for violating its COVID-19 misinformation policies. 

Trump, who was banned for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, has his own social media site, Truth Social, and has only tweeted once since his return to X, saying “Thank you, Elon!” 

 

Source: (AP)