Alex Jones was unbans and host interview with Musk on X
Alex Jones’s return on the micro-messaging platform is a step forward for advertisers and the public, not a hoax
A poll on the micro-messaging platform’s website came to favor Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist who said that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax. It poses new uncertainty for advertisers, who have fled X over concerns about hate speech appearing alongside their ads, and is the latest divisive public personality to get back their banned account. 70% of the people who responded to the poll said they would vote in favor of Jones’s return. Early Sunday, Musk said that the people had spoken and that it would be. “A The last one from last year, when the company banned Jones and his show for being abusive, was visible again few hours later. The move is about protecting the rights that Musk believes in, according to him. In response to a user who wrote that banning an account was not compatible with free speech, Musk said “I find it hard to disagree with this point.” Community Notes could respond quickly to any post that needs correction, said the billionaire CEO. It’s a huge change for Musk, who previously said he wouldn’t let Jones back on the platform. Last year Musk pointed to the death of his first born child and said he had “no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame.” “Jones repeatedly has 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 in an effort to tighten gun laws. In Texas and Connecticut the victims’ relatives won more than a billion dollars in judgements against Jones. A judge in October made it clear that Jones wouldn’t be able to use Chapter 13 protection to avoid paying the full amount of debt. Relatives of the school shooting victims testified at the trials about being harassed and threatened by Jones’ believers, who sent threats and even confronted the grieving families in person, accusing them of being “crisis actors” whose children never existed. Jones is appealing the judgments, saying he didn’t get fair trials and his speech was protected by the First Amendment. 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. They also were scared away after Musk himself endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory in response to a post on X. The CEO apologized before going to Israel, where he held talks with top Israeli leaders. He has said that advertisers are using “blackmail” and “using a profanity”) to tell them to leave. In an on stage interview last month at The New York Times DealBook Summit, Musk was asked if he’d like to advertise. Musk said he was giving “amnesty” for suspended accounts when he bought the platform last year, and since has restored former President Donald Trump and West, who were recently banned over antisemitic posts. Trump, who was banned for encouraging the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, has his own social media site, Truth Social, and has only tweeted once since being allowed back on X.
Jones spread a number of false and wild conspiracy theories, including the claim that children were sacrificed on a California compound, that the U.S. government had “weather weapons” that triggered catastrophes, and that the FBI Director was a demon.
The unbanning of Jones comes less than a month after Musk endorsed tweets that promoted white nationalist viewpoints and antisemitic conspiracy theories. His remarks led to yet another wave of advertisers departing X in response, which Musk blamed on the media ignoring his “clarifications” on his point of view.
A Very-Online View on X/Matrix, the “Great Replacement”, and the “Analytical Truth”
The conversation covered a series of, at times, confusing topics including the “deep state” and the threats that the participants perceived to masculinity.
Musk raised eyebrows when he appeared on stage at the DealBook Summit in New York in November and leveled profanities at companies who pulled ads from X.
Musk has reinstated several banned or suspended accounts since purchasing Twitter, including ones belonging to former president Donald Trump and social media personality Andrew Tate, who was indicted earlier this year on human trafficking and rape charges in Romania.
Later in the call, Musk and Jones were joined by an array of other speakers from the very-online circuit, including Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, conspiracy theorist and former Trump advisor Michael Flynn, US Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL), VC and podcast host Jason Calacanis, and influencer Andrew Tate, who earlier this year was charged with rape and human trafficking.
Ramaswamy praised getting to know Jones as “eye opening” and supported his return to X. “There are people who have … made some mistakes, said some things that were wrong, and said some other things that were dead right that nobody else was saying either,” he said of Jones.
Jones used portions of the call to rail against (and argue about the definition of) “globalists” and peppered in language about “world government” and “social credit scores.” He praised Musk a lot. Jones said that he wasn’t kissing ass here. Elon, you have big ones on every front.
Musk has increasingly courted far-right influencers to X under the banner of allowing free speech and open conversations. He has started to promote and endorse some of their ideas. In November, he replied to a tweet endorsing the antisemitic “great replacement” conspiracy, calling it the “actual truth.”
Musk and Jones had heard enough when Calacanis asked Jones to explain his Sandy Hook comments once again. “I’m not gonna live in Groundhog Day,” Jones said, refusing to discuss his remarks further. Musk chimed in later, “It was answered … I believe people will get tired of you answering the question.
