Elon Musk has reinstated the account of controversial conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on X, the social media platform he acquired for $44 billion last year, as Musk faces ongoing advertiser loss on the platform.
In a Saturday post, Musk stated:
"Reinstate Alex Jones on this platform? Vox Populi, Vox Dei."
After the poll showed overwhelming support for allowing the conspiracy theorist back on the platform, Musk further tweeted on Sunday:
"The people have spoken and so it shall be."
Alex Jones, the operator of the conspiracy network Infowars, had been banned from Twitter in 2018 for violating the site's abusive behavior policy.
Last year, Jones was ordered to pay over $1 billion to the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims, having spread false claims on Infowars, including labeling the victims' families as "crisis actors."
During civil trials in the past year, Sandy Hook families testified about the real-world harassment they endured due to Jones' falsehoods. The harassment included receiving disturbing images and threats.
Infowars primarily generates revenue from selling supplements and survival gear. Court records revealed that the Infowars store made more money on days when Jones promoted false information about the Sandy Hook tragedy.
Musk, who took over Twitter last year, had initially shown no leniency toward Jones, stating that he had "no mercy" for him due to the exploitation of children's deaths for personal gain.
However, Musk has now apparently reversed his stance and allowed Jones back on the platform.
X users had some feelings about Musk’s latest controversial actions, and called out his hypocrisy.
@elonmusk The polls are so he can pretend he wasn\u2019t always gonna reinstate extremists/trump, but Elon was always gonna do this. And in doing it this way he\u2019s trying to suggest Twitter is a real way to make decisions so he can conflate Twitter votes with real votes and Twitter with reality.— (@)
Elon Musk: \u201cI have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, power, or fame.\u201d\n\nAlso Elon Musk: \u201cI\u2019m reinstating Alex Jones\u2019s account on the week of the anniversary of the Sandy Hook massacre!\u201d\n\nWhat a hypocritical asshole.— (@)
This decision comes as X faces a decline in advertisers who withdrew due to Musk's erratic behavior and his promotion of antisemitic conspiracies.
Not a good look, Elon.
@PreetBharara/X
@RepBrendanBoyle/X
@twesq/Bluesky
@christopherharris/Bluesky
@evangelinewarren/X
@FrankC164/X
AMC