A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/texas">Texas</a> jury ordered Infowars host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alex-jones">Alex Jones</a> to pay $45.2 million in punitive damages on Friday to the parents of a 6-year-old child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting.
The hefty charge comes on top of another <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-alex-jones-fined-4-1-million-in-sandy-hook-defamation-trial">$4.1 million compensatory charge</a> that the jury directed Jones to pay to Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, the parents of 6-year-old Jesse, who was killed at Sandy Hook alongside 19 other children and six educators. The trial is the first of three over conspiratorial comments Jones made following the Sandy Hook tragedy denying it had happened.
Jones will sit for two more trials next month, one more in Texas and another in Delaware, and face the families of more of the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre. The families allege that Jones defamed them in the aftermath of the tragedy.
In closing comments on Friday, Lewis and Heslin&#8217;s attorney Todd Ball told the jury: “We ask that you send a very, very simple message, and that is, stop Alex Jones. Stop the monetization of misinformation and lies. Please.”
Jones’ attorney Andino Reynal argued to the jury that a fair fine for the Infowars host would be roughly a quarter of a million dollars, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/05/media/alex-jones-punitive-damages-sandy-hook/index.html">CNN</a>. Reynal said Jones should be fined according to his purported earnings of $14,000 per hour for the 18 hours he made false claims about Sandy Hook in the aftermath of the shooting.
Reynal had also asked the jury for a low penalty the day before when the jury was set to decide compensatory damages. Reynal argued that Jones had made a “terrible mistake” and asked the jury to fine his client just $1.
“He made a terrible mistake,” Reynal told jurors, according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alex-jones-must-pay-41-million-parents-sandy-hook-school-massacre-vict-rcna41493">NBC News</a>. “That mistake was weaponized by the same political forces that had descended upon Sandy Hook when it happened.”
During the trial, Jones testified that the media and his critics had never allowed for him to take back his comments, despite his retractions and admissions that he was wrong.
Both parents <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/parents-6-year-old-sandy-hook-victim-say-alex-jones-made-life-living-h-rcna41204">testified</a> during the trial. Heslin said that “the negligence and recklessness of Alex Jones” had made his life a “living hell.”
Lewis said, “having a 6-year-old son shot in front of his classroom is unbearable and you don’t think you’re going to survive and then to have someone on top of that perpetuate a lie that it was a hoax, that it was a false flag.”
“I don’t think you understand the fear you perpetuate, not just to the victim’s family but to our family, our friends and any survivor from that school,” Lewis added.

Alex Jones

Jury Orders Alex Jones To Pay Tens Of Millions To Parents Of Sandy Hook Victim

Jury Orders Alex Jones To Pay $45.2 Million To Parents Of Sandy Hook Victim

Court

Guns

Sandy Hook

Texas

Phone records <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alex-jones-attorney-sent-his-private-messages-to-other-side-opposing-counsel-says">accidentally</a> given to the plaintiff by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alex-jones">Alex Jones</a>’ legal team in an ongoing lawsuit will likely be handed over to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/january-6-committee">January 6 Committee</a>.
The InfoWars founder was sued by the parents of Jesse Lewis, a victim of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sandy-hook">Sandy Hook</a> shooting, after Jones claimed the event was a hoax and the family members were “crisis actors.” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/08/03/alex-jones-sandy-hook-phone/">At least</a> nine families have sued Jones for defamation since 2018. Jones has since <a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-us-news-shootings-texas-lawsuits-d029d6736d2ce6755c9e89e7cf9f27af">conceded</a> that the massacre was “100% real.”
On Wednesday, the plaintiff’s attorney, Mark Bankston, revealed that Jones’ counsel had accidentally sent him all of the text messages on Jones’ phone, including communiques with Roger Stone and various other figures connected to the rally and later riot at the Capitol building on January 6, 2021.
&#8220;I am under request from various federal agencies and law enforcement to provide [the records],&#8221; Bankston <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/04/politics/alex-jones-texts-federal-state-investigators-january-6/index.html">told</a> Judge Maya Guerra Gamble. &#8220;Absent a ruling from you saying you cannot do that &#8230; I intend to do so immediately following this hearing.&#8221;
Jones has been a person of interest to the January 6 Committee for some time; Jones was a prominent participant in the protest on January 6, but did not storm the Capitol. The committee issued a subpoena for Jones’ testimony and records in November 2021. Jones gave the committee an hours-long virtual deposition in January where he <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/08/04/1115674589/alex-jones-texts-jan-6-committee">invoked</a> his 5th amendment right “almost 100 times.”
Texas rules give lawyers 10 days to claim that privileged material was shared in error, which would require the opposing party to return the information. When Jones’ attorney, Andino Reynal, was notified of the slip up, he <a href="https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2022/08/04/alex-jones-texts-sought-jan-6-committee/65392054007/">replied</a> “please disregard” in an email, which he argues should have been sufficient to remove it from the record.
Bankston disagreed, arguing that Reynal would have been required to specify which records were privileged and provided grounds for why they should be.
Simply saying &#8220;please disregard … creates no &#8230; legal duty on me whatsoever,&#8221; Bankston <a href="https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2022/08/04/alex-jones-texts-sought-jan-6-committee/65392054007/">said</a>.
Reynal requested a mistrial on Thursday as a result of the accidental leak. He also filed an emergency motion for the destruction of the documents, which Judge Maya Guerra Gamble denied.
Gamble did allow Reynal to file a request that certain texts remain confidential, although she would have to approve that request and she “wasn’t sure she could block a subpoena.”
The defamation trial concluded on Thursday. Jones was ordered to pay the plaintiffs <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-alex-jones-fined-4-1-million-in-sandy-hook-defamation-trial">$4.1 million</a>.

January 6 Committee Likely To Receive Alex Jones’ Phone Records

January 6 Committee Likely To Receive Alex Jones' Phone Records

Capitol Riot

January 6

January 6 Committee

Infowars host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alex-jones">Alex Jones</a> must pay $4.1 million to the parents of a child killed in the mass shooting at <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sandy-hook">Sandy Hook Elementary School</a> in 2012, a jury ruled Thursday.
Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin lost their 6-year-old son, Jesse, in the 2012 massacre after a gunman attacked his school, killing 20 students and six educators. In the aftermath of the attack, Jones spread false claims that the attack was a hoax.
Lewis and Heslin brought legal action against Jones over his conspiracy theorist claims, accusing Jones of defamation. Jones’ attorney, Andino Reynal, argued that Jones had made a “terrible mistake” and asked the jury to fine his client $1.
“He made a terrible mistake,” Reynal told jurors, according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alex-jones-must-pay-41-million-parents-sandy-hook-school-massacre-vict-rcna41493">NBC News</a>. “That mistake was weaponized by the same political forces that had descended upon Sandy Hook when it happened.”
Both parents <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/parents-6-year-old-sandy-hook-victim-say-alex-jones-made-life-living-h-rcna41204">testified</a> during the trial. Heslin said that “the negligence and recklessness of Alex Jones” had made the grieving parent’s life a “living hell.”
“Having a 6-year-old son shot in front of his classroom is unbearable and you don’t think you’re going to survive and then to have someone on top of that perpetuate a lie that it was a hoax, that it was a false flag,” Lewis testified. “I don’t think you understand the fear you perpetuate, not just to the victim’s family but to our family, our friends and any survivor from that school.”
At one point during the trial, Jones’s legal team accidentally <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alex-jones-attorney-sent-his-private-messages-to-other-side-opposing-counsel-says">sent</a> opposing attorneys a copy of Jones’ text messages. The messages purportedly revealed that Jones had made false statements about messages he sent referencing the Sandy Hook shooting. According to the parents’ attorney, Jones said earlier under oath he could not locate any messages, but his messages revealed that he sent many of them.
“Mr. Jones, did you know that 12 days ago, your attorneys messed up and sent me an entire digital copy of your entire cellphone with every text message you’ve sent for the past two years?” Mark Bankston, an attorney for Lewis and Heslin, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/us/politics/alex-jones-trial-sandy-hook.html">asked</a> Jones. “You know what perjury is, right?”
Jones responded that he did and maintained that he told the truth.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Attorney Mark Bankston told <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlexJones?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AlexJones</a> that his attorney messed up and sent him Jones&#39; entire cell phone history. &quot;Did you know that your lawyers messed up and sent me your entire cell phone texting history 12 days ago?&quot; Bankston asked. &quot;You know what perjury is right?&quot; <a href="https://t.co/IfIiP5UTIg">pic.twitter.com/IfIiP5UTIg</a>
&mdash; Law&amp;Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) <a href="https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetwork/status/1554878549319946242?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Alex Jones Ordered To Pay $4.1 Million In Sandy Hook Defamation Trial

Alex Jones Fined $4.1 Million In Sandy Hook Defamation Trial

Lawsuit

The defamation trial against Infowars founder Alex Jones took a big turn on Wednesday when the attorneys representing the parents of a Sandy Hook victim said that that Jones’ attorney accidentally sent them the conspiracy theorist’s text messages.
Mark Bankston, who is representing the parents of a Sandy Hook victim who are suing Jones over his claims the shooting was a hoax, revealed the information during the trial, which is happening now.
&#8220;Twelve days ago, your attorneys messed up and sent me a digital copy of every text,&#8221; Bankston reportedly said, according to NBC News senior reporter Ben Collins. “You know what perjury is?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Wow. Sandy Hook parents&#8217; lawyer is revealing that Alex Jones&#8217; lawyers sent him the contents of Jones&#8217; phone BY MISTAKE.
&#8220;12 days ago, your attorneys messed up and sent me a digital copy of every text&#8221; Jones has sent for years.
&#8220;You know what perjury is?&#8221; the lawyer asks.
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) <a href="https://twitter.com/oneunderscore__/status/1554864067508060160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Collins, who is watching the trial, followed up his tweet by saying that Bankston was “now asking Jones about the times he has emailed about Sandy Hook over the last several years, despite testifying under oath he couldn&#8217;t find any emails about Sandy Hook. There are apparently a lot of them.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Sandy Hook parents&#8217; lawyer is now asking Jones about the times he has emailed about Sandy Hook over the last several years, despite testifying under oath he couldn&#8217;t find any emails about Sandy Hook. There are apparently a lot of them. One is on a screen right now.
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) <a href="https://twitter.com/oneunderscore__/status/1554864549127503872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In another tweet, Collins said the judge in the case began instructing jurors “on the entire contents of Alex Jones’ phone.”
&#8220;What we do know is that it was not properly turned over when it should have been,&#8221; the judge said, according to Collins.
Not only did the texts apparently confirm Jones had discussed Sandy Hook despite earlier testimony, they also revealed that, for at least a couple days in 2018, Jones’ website Infowars earned up to $800,000, a number Jones said was the result of a good week during the Conservative Political Action Convention.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
These texts and emails are FINALLY revealing financials behind Infowars.
Some days in 2018, InfoWars was making $800,000 a day.
&#8220;Well after your deplatforming, your numbers keep getting better,&#8221; Sandy Hook parents&#8217; lawyer says.
If they keep that up, that&#8217;s ~$300 mill. a year.
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) <a href="https://twitter.com/oneunderscore__/status/1554867649150156805?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Jones is being sued by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis was one of 20 children killed during a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012. Jones spoke in his defense on Tuesday, explaining he never intended to cause them harm when he falsely claimed the shooting was a hoax.
&#8220;I question every big event,&#8221; Jones said on the stand, <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/alex-jones-testifies-in-own-defense-at-sandy-hook-defamation-trial-221940211.html">according to Yahoo News</a>.
At the time, Jones claimed the mass shooting was staged and called the parents of the slain children “crisis actors” allegedly hired by the “deep state.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Heslin and Lewis testified against Jones.
&#8220;Jesse was real,&#8221; Lewis reportedly said. &#8220;I am a real mom.&#8221;
Jones said on the stand that he believes “Scarlett Lewis is real” and that “her son died.” Jones also admitted on the stand that the massacre was “100% real,” CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alex-jones-trial-testimony-sandy-hook-massacre-100-percent-real/">reported</a>.
As Yahoo noted, Jones has been hosting his popular conspiracy program throughout the trial, and said on Tuesday – while Heslin was testifying in court – that the grieving father “acts like somebody on the spectrum” and “is being manipulated by some very bad people.&#8221;
Jones testified later that day as the only witness in his defense. After the jury was released, Judge Maya Guerra Gamble scolded Jones for “abusing my tolerance and making asides to the jury.”
&#8220;This is not your show,&#8221; Gamble told Jones, according to Yahoo. &#8220;You&#8217;re under oath. That means things must actually be true when you say them.&#8221;
&#8220;I believed them to be true,&#8221; Jones responded.
&#8220;You believe everything is true,&#8221; Gamble said.

Demonstrators Protests At Texas State Capitol Against Governor’s Stay At Home Order

Alex Jones’ Attorney Accidentally Sent His Private Messages To Other Side, Opposing Counsel Says

Alex Jones' Attorney Sent His Private Messages To Other Side, Opposing Counsel Says

Defamation

Mass Shooting

Infowars founder Alex Jones on Sunday filed for voluntary Chapter 11 after losing lawsuits filed by parents of children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, according to reports.
The conspiracy website filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/alex-jones-infowars-files-bankruptcy-us-court-2022-04-18/" data-type="URL" data-id="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/alex-jones-infowars-files-bankruptcy-us-court-2022-04-18/">according</a> to Reuters. If the request is approved, the website can continue to operate while it sets up a plan to reorganize. The move would also suspend further civil litigation.
On his radio show, as well as Infowars.com, Jones claimed the December 14, 2012, shooting at the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut &#8212; which killed 20 first graders and six educators &#8212; was a “hoax” staged by &#8220;crisis actors.&#8221; He said their intent was to spur more opposition to the Second Amendment.
Over the last year, the far-right host was found liable for damages in at least three defamation cases brought by families of the victims, and several other suits are pending.
Jones offered to settle the lawsuits by paying $120,000 to each plaintiff, but the families rejected the proposal, The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/wire/600305-sandy-hook-families-reject-alex-jones-settlement-offer/">reported</a>. No damages have yet been assessed, but a trial to set them is scheduled to begin in August.
Last month, Jones was fined $75,000 when he did not appear for a deposition in a defamation case, but a judge refunded the money when Jones appeared.
&#8220;Alex Jones is just delaying the inevitable: a public trial in which he will be held accountable for his profit-driven campaign of lies against the Sandy Hook families who have brought this lawsuit,” Christopher Mattei, who represents the families in a Connecticut lawsuit against Jones, said at the time, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/alex-jones-infowars-bankruptcy-filing-1a3b51946cb06c5f90c341d3118947cf">according</a> to the Associated Press.
&#8220;Another newly filed <a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/business-alex-jones-austin-texas-lawsuits-00b6df5205d733e31bfc1e4377edcd26">lawsuit</a> accuses Jones of hiding millions of dollars in assets, but an attorney for Jones has called that allegation &#8216;ridiculous.'&#8221; the AP reported.
That lawsuit claims Jones is hiding money and that he drew $18 million from Infowars over the last three years.
“After Alex Jones was sued for claiming the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary was a hoax, the infamous conspiracy theorist conspired to divert his assets to shell companies owned by insiders like his parents, his children, and himself,” says the lawsuit, which was filed in Austin, Texas, by more families of the Sandy Hook victims.
&#8220;According to the lawsuit, Jones is accused of drawing about $18 million from his Infowars company over three years, starting in 2018 when the defamation lawsuits were filed. Jones is also accused of claiming a &#8216;dubious&#8217; $54 million debt around that time to another company, which the lawsuit alleges is indirectly or directly owned by Jones.&#8221;
The wire service cited Norm Pattis, an attorney for Jones, who said no one is hiding assets. &#8220;The suggestion is ridiculous. We look forward to litigating these issues,” Pattis said.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent, and ran the Drudge Report from 2010 to 2015. Send tips to josephcurl@dailywire.com and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.

Trump Supporters Hold “Stop The Steal” Rally In DC Amid Ratification Of Presidential Election

Alex Jones’ Infowars Files For Bankruptcy Over Sandy Hook Defamation Lawsuits

Infowars

School Shooting

Joe Rogan sent some seriously<a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/joe-rogan-spotify-censorship/"> mixed signals</a> on free expression in recent months.
The podcast superstar vowed to maintain editorial control over the “Joe Rogan Experience” after accepting a massive check from Spotify to join its platform.
The audio giant quickly put that vow to the test, memory holing a number of classic “JRE” episodes with controversial figures like conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
Rogan stayed quiet.
Then, a gaggle of woke Spotify employees demanded editorial say over new and existing Rogan episodes, sparking a series of meetings with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. Some workers even threatened to strike over the matter.
Again, Rogan said nothing.
Finally, the podcaster reacted to the cancellation attempt. First, he said he hadn’t directly heard of any strike talk behind-the-scenes at Spotify. The martial arts guru followed that up by applying <a href="https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2020/10/05/joe-rogan-spotify-comments/">some pressure to his critics.</a>
<blockquote>Now, is there someone at Spotify that’s complaining about the Abigail Shrier episode? I’m sure. I’m sure there’s someone who’s complaining about it. Is it a transphobic episode? It’s not. They’re wrong. It’s nothing to do with that. It has to do with the fact that human beings are actually malleable. We all know that. That’s why cults exist…
And if you have a problem with people saying terrible s*** and you work for Spotify, maybe you should listen to some of the lyrics. Okay, cus some of the lyrics and some of the f***ing music that you guys play over and over and over again makes my s*** pale in comparison&#8230;
But I get it, you’re a 23-year-old woke kid and you’re working for this company and you think you’re gonna put your foot down, I get it.”</blockquote>
The comedian and UFC commentator saved his biggest counterpunch for this week, though.
The latest “Joe Rogan Experience” episode features comedian Tim Dillon and Jones, founder of the Infowars conspiracy media hub.
Yes, that Alex Jones.
Rogan has his pick of virtually any guest on the planet at this point. In recent days he chatted with Oscar winner <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/matthew-mcconaughey-rob-schneider-lesson/">Matthew McConaughey</a> and rapper/presidential candidate Kanye West.
He clearly can select who he pleases to share a podcast microphone, and it pleased Rogan to bring Jones back on the show. The host reportedly fact-checked Jones throughout their conversation, to the best of his ability via speedy Web searches.
Woke Nation is still gnashing its teeth over the episode. Then again, so are news reporters.
The Guardian quickly fired off a request from Rogan’s camp for comment. The<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/oct/28/joe-rogan-hosts-alex-jones-on-spotify-podcast-despite-ban"> liberal outlet isn’t happy</a> about Jones’ return visit to the show.
<blockquote>Spotify did not return a request for comment on whether it exercises editorial control over Rogan’s podcast or whether it took responsibility for Jones’ comments about vaccines on a show it funded.</blockquote>
TechCrunch<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/10/28/joe-rogan-alex-jones-and-spotifys-illusion-of-neutrality/"> struck a similar note</a>, all but hoping Spotify will start censoring Rogan … and fast.
<blockquote>For now, Spotify is not saying anything in response to this publicly. We’ve tried to reach out to the company to get a response to questions about the show, and we will update if we hear back. We’ve had nothing for hours, and a colleague who asked the same questions months ago never heard back either. So we’re not holding our breath.</blockquote>
The far-left BuzzFeed also slammed Jones’ appearance, <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/janelytvynenko/spotify-defends-alex-jones-joe-rogan-podcast">playing up those critical of Jones’ return</a>.
<blockquote>Outside of the leaked email, Spotify spokespeople have remained silent in the face of the public outcry about Jones’ appearance.</blockquote>
Variety also stamped its cyber feet that the platform is allowing the Rogan-Jones exchange.
<blockquote>A Spotify spokesperson declined to comment, and neither YouTube nor Apple has commented on the “JRE” episode with Jones.
Why have the platforms not taken down the Jones episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience” — especially given that Spotify, Apple and YouTube have previously banned the Infowars founder from their platforms?</blockquote>
The far-left Hollywood site makes its stance on free expression abundantly clear.
<blockquote>Still, the ongoing controversy surrounding Rogan’s podcast will likely continue to be a headache for Spotify. Last month, Spotify employees challenged CEO Daniel Ek in an internal town-hall meeting over a recent “JRE” podcast featuring anti-trans personality and author Abigail Shrier, according to a report by Vice’s Motherboard.</blockquote>
It’s worth noting that very few journalists backed up the New York Post after Big Tech suppressed its blockbuster story on the Biden family.
Also critical?
Most press outlets peddled the Russia collusion hoax sans apology for years without any significant repercussions … or mea culpas. That seems far more important than a one-and-done chat with a conspiracy-minded talker who we know not to take seriously.
Rogan didn’t get to the top of the podcasting world by playing it safe. He thrives on open conversation, chats that often reach the three-hour mark. And inviting Jones back on his show clearly isn’t about vaccine information or related topics.
He’s sending a message to his detractors. This is my show, and I call the shots.
A version of this article can be found at HollywoodInToto.com.

Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan Stares Down Cancel Culture Mob By Interviewing Alex Jones

Cancel Culture

Spotify

The New York Attorney General has sent a cease-and-desist letter to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for making false claims about the coronavirus and products on his online store, including a false claim about his toothpaste brand.
According to the <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alex-jones-toothpaste-coronavirus_n_5e694142c5b6bd8156f0ce82">Huffington Post</a>, Jones made a claim about the “nanosilver” inside of his toothpaste brand, which he has claimed kills viruses in the coronavirus and SARS family.
“The patented nanosilver we have, the Pentagon has come out and documented and Homeland Security has said this stuff kills the whole SARS-corona family at point-blank range,” Jones said on-air Tuesday. “They’re still discounted despite all the hell breaking loose.”
In a statement to The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/nyregion/alex-jones-coronavirus-cure.html">New York Times</a>, Attorney General Letitia James said that the cease-and-desist notice was designed to halt people from profiting off of lies during the health crisis.
“As the coronavirus continues to pose serious risks to public health, Alex Jones has spewed outright lies and has profited off of New Yorkers’ anxieties,” said James.
Jonathan W. Emord, a lawyer for Jones’ radio program, said the products were not intended “to be used in the treatment of any disease, including the novel coronavirus,” and the attorney general’s office had made a “false” allegation against him, reports the news agency.
According to <a href="https://fox4kc.com/tracking-coronavirus/fda-warning-7-companies-selling-products-that-falsely-claim-to-treat-coronavirus/">Fox News</a>, the FDA recently sent notices to seven companies for promoting anti-coronavirus products, including other companies that were making false claims about the capacity for silver products to stop the coronavirus. 
The FDA states that there is no coronavirus vaccine, and that no products have been approved to prevent or treat the coronavirus.
The World Health Organization declared Wednesday that the coronavirus was now at pandemic levels, reports <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/11/814474930/coronavirus-covid-19-is-now-officially-a-pandemic-who-says">NPR</a>. The organization last declared a pandemic in 2009, during the swine flu outbreak. 
Dr. Anthony Fauci, an immunologist on the White House coronavirus task force, has been informing the American public that the spread of the virus will continue, and that the country should prepare for circumstances to become worse before they improve. 
“It’s certainly going to get worse before it gets better … there’s no doubt we have not peaked yet,” said Fauci, as The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-to-declare-national-emergency">Daily Wire</a> reported Friday. 
Fauci stated that it is currently unclear whether the United States will enact a complete shut-down strategy in the vein of Italy: “I’m not sure we’re going to get to that. I think that would be really rather dramatic, but I can tell you that all things are on the table. We just have to respond as things evolve over the days and the weeks.”
President Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-unleashes-full-power-of-u-s-government-to-fight-coronavirus">announced</a> Friday that the administration was declaring a national emergency, which would “open up access to up to $50 billion of very important and a large amount of money for states and territories and localities in our shared fight against this disease.”
“In furtherance of the order, I’m urging every state to set up emergency operations centers effective immediately,” said Trump. “I’m also asking every hospital in this country to activate its emergency preparedness plan so they can meet the needs of Americans everywhere.”

New York Warns Alex Jones Against Selling Bogus Anti-Coronavirus Toothpaste

COVID

New York

On Monday, <a href="https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Lawyers-Alex-Jones-sent-child-porn-to-Sandy-Hook-14005437.php?utm_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20(Desktop)&amp;utm_source=t.co&amp;utm_medium=referral">reports</a> that Infowars founder Alex Jones sent child pornography to lawyers representing victims from Sandy Hook Elementary School <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/06/17/infowars-alex-jones-sent-child-porn-sandy-hook-lawyers-docs-say/1481412001/">flooded</a> left-wing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/17/nyregion/alex-jones-sandy-hook.html">websites</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=alex%20jones%20porn&amp;src=typd">social media</a>.
But such a claim is wildly misleading, according to Jones&#8217; lawyer.
It appears, according to a <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/alex-jones-offers-dollar1m-reward-after-alleged-malware-attack-that-he-says-planted-child-porn-on-his-servers">report</a> from The Daily Beast, that Jones was ordered to hand over a trove of data to lawyers involved in the Sandy Hook defamation suit against the controversial media personality. In about a dozen threatening emails sent to Infowars &#8220;by one or more anonymous people,&#8221; Sandy Hook lawyers found images of child pornography, which, according to Jones attorney Norman Pattis, were never opened. Sandy Hook legal representation sent over the material to the FBI in late May, when they received the messages, sparking an investigation.
&#8220;I spoke to federal prosecutors last week. They report that there is no indication anyone at InfoWars knowingly possessed child pornography,&#8221; said Pattis, according to the outlet. &#8220;The items were embedded in emails sent to folks at InfoWars without ever having been opened.&#8221;
&#8220;There were 9.6 million emails that were searched; we turned over about 57,000 of them. In 12 of them, there were embedded images of child pornography,&#8221; Pattis <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/alex-jones-offers-dollar1m-reward-after-alleged-malware-attack-that-he-says-planted-child-porn-on-his-servers?ref=scroll">elaborated</a>, appearing on Infowars alongside Jones. &#8220;As it turns out, those emails were never opened, the images were never opened. There&#8217;s no evidence that anybody here, or anybody affiliated with you, or you, ever searched them. So clearly they were placed in there as malware.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;ve spoken to federal prosecutors, they regard you as a victim. They do not regard you in any way as a suspect,&#8221; he added.
The FBI has not yet confirmed any investigation nor has the agency commented on the matter publicly.
Sandy Hook attorneys claimed in a court filing that &#8220;minimal due diligence&#8221; from Jones would have alerted him to the illegal material.
&#8220;It is worth noting that if the Jones defendants had engaged in even minimal due diligence and actually reviewed the materials before production, they would have found the images themselves,&#8221; the filing said, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/lawyers-for-sandy-hook-families-say-alex-jones-sent-them-child-pornography-11560809877">according</a> to The Wall Street Journal. &#8220;Because the Jones defendants did not do that, they transmitted images to the plaintiffs that if they were knowingly possessed is a serious federal crime.&#8221;
Speaking about the matter on Infowars (in a video which has now been removed from YouTube), Jones <a href="https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Lawyers-Alex-Jones-sent-child-porn-to-Sandy-Hook-14005437.php?mod=article_inline">claimed</a> the FBI told him his media company was the &#8220;victim&#8221; in the child porn scandal. &#8220;I&#8217;m not saying the Sandy Hook lawyers did this,&#8221; he noted.
Days prior, Jones suggested that the illicit material was planted on his server and issued a $1 million reward for information uncovering the apparent set-up.
&#8220;You&#8217;re trying to set me up with child porn, I&#8217;m going to get your a**,&#8221; he said on video, according to The Daily Beast. &#8220;One million dollars, one million dollars you little gang member. One million dollars to put your head on a pike. One million dollars, b****. You&#8217;re not going to ever defeat Texas, you sacks of s***.&#8221;
&#8220;I don&#8217;t have a lot of money, but I&#8217;ll sell my house,&#8221; he continued.
&#8220;I&#8217;m not into kids like your Democratic party, you c**ks**kers,&#8221; Jones added. &#8220;I don&#8217;t like having sex with children, I would never have sex with children.&#8221;

Alex Jones’ Lawyer: Claim Jones Sent Child Porn To Sandy Hook Lawyers Wildly Misleading

Children

Crime

Last Thursday, Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram permanently banned some individuals and organizations the company deemed &#8220;dangerous.&#8221; Among the permanently deplatformed are Infowars&#8217; Alex Jones and Paul Joseph Watson, right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, notorious anti-Semite and racist Louis Farrakhan, and right-wing activist Laura Loomer.
In an interview with Jones on Wednesday, Loomer broke down in tears discussing how the bans from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have eliminated &#8220;90%&#8221; of her income and &#8220;ruined&#8221; her life.
The interview follows a post by Watson expressing concern about Loomer&#8217;s state of mind following the Facebook, Inc. bans. &#8220;Laura Loomer is now basically making thinly veiled suicide threats because of the way she has been treated. And many on here will laugh. Yet we&#8217;re the &#8216;hateful&#8217; ones. OK,&#8221; Watson tweeted on Thursday following Facebook&#8217;s actions. &#8220;I hope Laura is going to be fine; her friends should check on her.&#8221;
On Wednesday, Loomer appeared on Jones&#8217; much-maligned Infowars show to discuss the targeting of voices on the right by social media platforms and the lack of substantive action by Republicans and President Trump, but Loomer soon became overwhelmed with emotion.
&#8220;Like I said, I confronted Congress when Jack Dorsey was testifying in September, and I begged President Trump &#8212; I begged him to do something before it was too late,&#8221; said Loomer (video below via <a href="https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/05/heartbreaking-laura-loomer-breaks-down-in-tears-in-live-interview-my-life-is-ruined-due-to-social-media-targeting-and-banning-video/">GP</a>). &#8220;And that was when I still had access to my Twitter account, but I was mocked &#8230; They mocked me and called me crazy.&#8221;
She then erupted in emotion, exclaiming: &#8220;But what are they doing?! I wanna know what people are actually going to do! My life is ruined! Does anybody understand how ruined my life is?!&#8221; she said, beginning to cry. &#8220;I&#8217;m sick of it &#8212; I don&#8217;t want to listen to people tell me that I&#8217;m a conspiracy theorist! They don&#8217;t know what it&#8217;s like to be me! And I&#8217;m sick of it!&#8221;
In response to Jones pointing out that Trump is at least tweeting about it, she responded: &#8220;I know that he&#8217;s tweeting about it but that&#8217;s not going to stop the fact that I lost 90% of my income. That&#8217;s not going to stop the fact that I literally can&#8217;t make a living anymore &#8212; even though I have a degree! I was valedictorian in college, I graduated top in my class in my journalism program!&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m fighting harder than anybody &#8212; and I&#8217;m being destroyed, and they mock me!&#8221; she said. &#8220;These people don&#8217;t understand like my life is unlivable at this point in time. Like what is the point?&#8221;
WATCH:
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe loading="lazy" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_RPaBODC9HU" width="853"></iframe></div>
In a statement to The New York Times last Thursday, Facebook downplayed its decision to permanently ban individuals and organizations they deemed, without clear explanation, to be &#8220;dangerous.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;ve always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology,&#8221; a Facebook representative told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/technology/facebook-alex-jones-louis-farrakhan-ban.html">Times</a>. &#8220;The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to our decision to remove these accounts today.&#8221;
Related: 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/34101/facebook-youtube-and-apple-ban-alex-jones-heres-ben-shapiro">SHAPIRO: Facebook, YouTube, And Apple Ban Alex Jones. Here&#8217;s Why They&#8217;re Dead Wrong.</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/38651/watch-laura-loomer-banned-twitter-criticizing-rep-amanda-prestigiacomo">WATCH: Laura Loomer Banned From Twitter For Criticizing Rep. Ilhan Omar, Islam. Here&#8217;s Her Response.</a>

WATCH: Laura Loomer Breaks Down In Tears Over Social Media Bans

Facebook

Instagram

Laura Loomer

Twitter

&#8220;I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.&#8221;
These words, written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall to describe the philosophy of Voltaire, should be written on Mark Zuckerberg&#8217;s forehead in indelible ink.
Zuckerberg&#8217;s Facebook &#8212; and Instagram as well &#8212; have permanently banned several people they deem &#8220;dangerous&#8221; from their sites. Among the deplatformed are Infowars&#8217; Alex Jones, Nation of Islam&#8217;s Louis Farrakhan and provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.
Jones is a lunatic conspiracy theorist, Farrakhan is a hate-filled anti-Semite and Yiannopoulos has pushed anti-liberal trolling to the point of fascism. It would be too little to say I disagree with their points of view. I despise their points of view.
But it is not only wrong for Facebook and Instagram to silence them, they have no right to do it and they should be forced to allow them back on their sites.
Facebook and Instagram are platforms not publishers. Unlike publishers, who can curate their content and are thus responsible for their content, platforms cannot be sued if slanderous material appears on them. In return for that immunity, they should be forced to allow all voices to speak. They should no more be able to censor people than the phone company should be allowed to stop Milo and Farrakhan from having a phone chat about whom they hate the most.
Facebook&#8217;s blatant and, to my mind, illegal act of censorship has nothing to do with keeping people safe. It has to do with silencing conservatives. Farrakhan &#8212; who has swanned around with Barack Obama, Eric Holder and most of the black congressional caucus &#8212; is the spoonful of leftist sugar meant to make the poisoning of the right go down. All the other targets are on the right.
Donald Trump has been so successful in taking over the phrase &#8220;fake news,&#8221; it&#8217;s easy to forget it originated on the left as part of a plan to shut down conservative speech. That plan is now in full operation.
Sharyl Attkisson, the investigative reporter who was forced out of CBS News when CBS refused to run stories that exposed the corruption of the Obama administration, has traced the origin of the &#8220;fake news&#8221; concept to a company called First Draft. First Draft got much of its funding from Google, whose parent company is run by one of Hillary Clinton&#8217;s biggest supporters. After First Draft started beating the &#8220;fake news&#8221; drum during the 2016 campaign, the cry was taken up by Hillary and Obama and, most urgently, by left-wing activist David Brock, who ran the George Soros-funded Media Matters, and other pro-left attack sites.
But the anti-conservative &#8220;fake news&#8221; campaign really took off in December of 2016 after a man fired off some bullets in Comet Ping Pong, the D.C. pizza parlor associated with Pizzagate. Pizzagate, you&#8217;ll recall, was the lunatic right-wing conspiracy theory that involved Hillary and others running a child sex ring out of Comet.
But did the conspiracy theory really originate on the right? Comet, after all, was run by one of Brock&#8217;s former boyfriends.
In any case, Brock had promised he was going to get Facebook and other major platforms to curate their content with the help of left-leaning organizations like Southern Poverty Law Center and Factcheck.Org. And after the shooting, he succeeded. Since the &#8220;fake news&#8221; push, right-wingers, almost exclusively, have become targets of censorship on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.
It&#8217;s got to stop, and the government&#8217;s got to stop it. If Facebook is a publisher who can silence Jones and the rest, then we ought to be able to sue Facebook for every slanderous comment that appears on the site.
If they are not a publisher, but a platform, then they must let every voice be heard.
No one wants to stand up for clowns like Jones and Farrakhan. But while their rhetoric may indeed be ugly, it is nowhere near as dangerous as censorship of Americans by huge, powerful, monopolistic corporations like Facebook.

KLAVAN: Facebook Censorship Should be Stopped

Free Speech

Louis Farrakhan

Without giving a warning or any specific reason, Facebook purged a number of &#8220;<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/05/instagram-and-facebook-ban-far-right-extremists/588607/">far-right extremists</a>&#8221; from its platform this week. Paul Joseph Watson, Milo Yiannopolous, Alex Jones, and Laura Loomer were all summarily banished. Louis Farrakhan was also given the boot &#8212; though he is not, despite media claims, in any way &#8220;far-right.&#8221;
This ban reaches farther than anything we&#8217;ve yet seen. Facebook and Instagram will neither allow links to their content nor mentions of any events they attend. According to the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/05/instagram-and-facebook-ban-far-right-extremists/588607/">The Atlantic</a>, the only Infowars content permitted on either platform is that which expressly condemns Infowars:
<blockquote>
Infowars is subject to the strictest ban. Facebook and Instagram will remove any content containing Infowars videos, radio segments, or articles (unless the post is explicitly condemning the content), and Facebook will also remove any groups set up to share Infowars content and events promoting any of the banned extremist figures, according to a company spokesperson. (Twitter, YouTube, and Apple have also banned Jones and Infowars.)
</blockquote>
The social media conglomerate offered only vague justifications for this move. It claimed that the targeted people are guilty of &#8220;hate&#8221; and &#8220;violence,&#8221; and are therefore &#8220;dangerous.&#8221; As for evidence of this dangerous hate and violence, it gave only a few rather bizarre examples. From the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48142098">BBC</a>:
<blockquote>
It said Alex Jones had hosted on his programme Gavin McInnes, leader of the Proud Boys, whose members are known for racist, anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric. Mr McInnes has been designated a &#8220;hate figure&#8221; by Facebook.
Facebook said this year Milo Yiannopoulos had publicly praised both Mr McInnes and English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, both banned from the network.
Laura Loomer also appeared with Mr McInnes, and Facebook said she also praised another banned figure, Faith Goldy, a Canadian.
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan was banned for making several anti-Semitic remarks earlier this year.
</blockquote>
Apparently it is a violation of Facebook&#8217;s policies to speak positively anywhere in public about people Facebook doesn&#8217;t like. Yiannopolous has been banned not for promoting Gavin McInnes on Facebook, but for expressing positive opinions about him in public. Can I then be banned for writing this article questioning the decision to ban these newly dubbed &#8220;hate figures?&#8221; I suppose I&#8217;ll find out soon enough.
Indeed, it is impossible to know ahead of time whether you are operating according to the rules or in defiance of them, because the rules are intentionally obscure. What counts as &#8220;hate&#8221;&#8221; What is &#8220;extreme?&#8221; Which ideas are &#8220;dangerous?&#8221; Well, we can only try and narrow it down by the process of elimination.
Hamas and Hezbollah must not be considered &#8220;hateful&#8221; because they still have <a href="https://twitter.com/thealexvanness/status/1124337082594463745">Facebook pages</a>. This <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1124116485109100545">burlesque performer</a> posted a picture of herself half-naked with a young girl stuffing dollar bills into her underwear while the girl&#8217;s parents watched and cheered. She still has a page, so I guess the exploitation and abuse of children is not &#8220;dangerous,&#8221; according to Facebook. Speaking of which, this <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DesmondisAmazing/">11-year-old drag queen</a> has a page, though dressing a child in drag seems both dangerous and &#8220;extreme&#8221; by any objective standard. PETA is extreme. The Animal Liberation Front is extreme. The National Abortions Rights Action League is extreme. Michael Moore is extreme. Sarah Silverman is extreme. Al Sharpton is extreme. Bill Maher is extreme. Everybody at the Daily Kos and Think Progress is extreme. All of these people and organizations, and the hundreds similar to them, are not only extreme but often quite hateful, yet their Facebook presence has not been interrupted by either bans or suspensions.
It seems that Facebook is operating with the same definition of &#8220;extremism&#8221; and &#8220;hatred&#8221; as the above-cited left-wing extremists themselves. If they were really interested in enforcing some objective and fair set of rules, they wouldn&#8217;t have waited to issue all of these bans at the same time, as part of one big P.R. spectacle. If Alex Jones were going to be banned for spreading the insane and evil Sandy Hook conspiracy theory, Facebook would have made that move five years ago. If Yiannopolous or Watson or Loomer really did something that violates the terms of service (and, in Watson&#8217;s case especially, I have no clue what that could possibly be), then they would have been kicked off the platform in response to that specific violation. Instead, Facebook handled it this way because the real &#8220;violation&#8221; is political. Whether these individuals can rightly be described as &#8220;extremist&#8221; or not, their only sin, in Facebook&#8217;s eyes, is that their alleged extremism falls on the right end of the political spectrum. The extremists and hateful bigots on the Left &#8212; of which there are many &#8212; have been granted full immunity.
Two questions now arise: (1) Is Facebook correct to censor people based on politics?; and (2) Does Facebook have the moral right to censor people based on politics?
The answer to the first question is obviously no. A social media giant with over a billion users suppressing speech is far more dangerous than a right-winger expressing his views in a blog post or a YouTube video. Facebook&#8217;s underhanded, dishonest, and absurdly biased actions should be condemned by anyone who cares about the free and open expression of ideas (an increasingly small group, perhaps).
The answer to the second question is more complicated. One thing I can say for sure is that Facebook does not have the right to smear and libel anyone. If they are going to publicly label someone like Paul Joseph Watson &#8220;dangerous,&#8221; &#8220;hateful,&#8221; and &#8220;violent,&#8221; they must provide evidence for that description. Otherwise they are baselessly defaming him, and that defamation, coming as it does from one of the most powerful companies in the world, will certainly have a negative impact on his life and professional career.
Leaving aside the libelous aspect of the matter, the question of whether or not Facebook has the moral or legal right to censor as it sees fit really comes down to category. What is Facebook? Is it a public utility, like a phone company? Is it just a &#8220;platform?&#8221; If so, what is a platform and how exactly can it be distinguished from a utility? Could a phone company claim that it is just a platform for phone calls? And if a platform makes editorial decisions about the content it publishes &#8212; such as allowing only negative references to Infowars &#8212; then hasn&#8217;t it actually become more of a publisher than a platform? And if it&#8217;s a publisher, then isn&#8217;t it responsible for everything posted to the site &#8212; such as that picture of the young girl and the burlesque dancer?
I don&#8217;t know the answers to all of these questions. But I do know that Facebook can&#8217;t weave around the cones forever, never defining itself or explaining what it is and how it operates. Facebook has to be one thing or the other or the other. It can&#8217;t be all three. And whatever it decides to be, ultimately, it must accept the responsibilties that come with that.

WALSH: Why Facebook’s War On ‘Hate’ Is Just A Thin Excuse To Censor Conservatives

Censorship

Media

Milo Yiannopoulos

Technology

On Thursday, Facebook and Instagram (which is owned by Facebook, Inc.) permanently banned &#8220;dangerous individuals and organizations&#8221; from their platforms. Infowars founder Alex Jones, self-described investigative journalist Laura Loomer, Infowars&#8217; Paul Joseph Watson, provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan were among those included in the de-platforming.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology,&#8221; a statement from a Facebook representative said, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/technology/facebook-alex-jones-louis-farrakhan-ban.html">according</a> to The New York Times. &#8220;The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to our decision to remove these accounts today.&#8221;
As <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/media-outlets-label-louis-farrakhan-a-far-right-leader">highlighted</a> by The Washington Examiner, the mainstream media went out of their way to label Farrakhan as a &#8220;far-right leader&#8221; when reporting the censorship:
<blockquote>
The New York Times, the Washington Post, Politico, and the Atlantic were among news organizations that used this description of Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam and a virulent anti-Semite who has long been associated with left-wing politics. After receiving almost immediate criticism for the &#8220;right-wing&#8221; characterization on social media, outlets scrambled their articles.
</blockquote>
Watson, one of the only purged personalities who still maintains a Twitter account, reacted to the act of censorship in a series of tweets. &#8220;Reports are true. I have been banned by Facebook. Was given no reason. I broke none of their rules,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;In an authoritarian society controlled by a handful of Silicon Valley giants, all dissent must be purged.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Reports are true.
I have been banned by Facebook.
Was given no reason. I broke none of their rules.
In an authoritarian society controlled by a handful of Silicon Valley giants, all dissent must be purged.
Please visit <a href="https://t.co/4psjfSdF96">https://t.co/4psjfSdF96</a> while it still exists.
&#8212; Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) <a href="https://twitter.com/PrisonPlanet/status/1124020603688820740?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Watson suggested Loomer was contemplating suicide over the de-platforming. &#8220;Laura Loomer is now basically making thinly veiled suicide threats because of the way she has been treated. And many on here will laugh. Yet we&#8217;re the &#8216;hateful&#8217; ones. OK,&#8221; Watson wrote. &#8220;I hope Laura is going to be fine; her friends should check on her.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Laura Loomer is now basically making thinly veiled suicide threats because of the way she has been treated. And many on here will laugh. Yet we&#8217;re the &#8220;hateful&#8221; ones. OK.
I hope Laura is going to be fine, her friends should check on her.
&#8212; Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) <a href="https://twitter.com/PrisonPlanet/status/1124064021672603649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Jones had his Twitter account permanently banned in September after he confronted a CNN reporter about his de-platforming from other tech companies, CNBC <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/35563/twitter-permanently-bans-alex-jones-infowars-day-ryan-saavedra">reported</a> at the time: &#8220;The ban appears to be related to a heated exchange between Jones and a CNN reporter Wednesday, which Jones live streamed on the Twitter-owned video service Periscope. Jones ranted at the reporter, as well as Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, following back-to-back congressional hearings where Dorsey addressed online election meddling, as well as accusations of political bias and conservative censorship on the platform.&#8221;
Twitter said in a statement that they &#8220;took this action based on new reports of Tweets and videos &#8230; that violate our abusive behavior policy, in addition to the accounts&#8217; past violations.&#8221;
As Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/34101/facebook-youtube-and-apple-ban-alex-jones-heres-ben-shapiro">noted</a> in August, soon after Apple, Facebook, and YouTube decided to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/06/apple-pulls-alex-jones-infowars-podcasts-for-hate-speech.html">remove content from Infowars</a> in an apparently coordinated effort, the censorship &#8220;is a problem.&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s a problem because these policies are extraordinarily vague,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;These policies aren&#8217;t merely designed to crack down on speech openly advocating or threatening violence, or containing obscenity. These policies are deliberately unclear as well as political.&#8221;
Shapiro underscored how so-called &#8220;hate speech&#8221; is completely subjective:
<blockquote>
What, for example, constitutes &#8220;hate speech&#8221;? Much of what Jones and his employees say is absolutely rotten pig excrement, but there&#8217;s no definition of hate speech that has a limiting principle. Is it &#8220;using dehumanizing language to describe people who are transgender&#8221; to state that transgender people suffer from a mental disorder? Or that they are not in fact members of the gender to which they claim membership? What constitutes &#8220;hate speech&#8221; when discussing the relationship between radical Islam and terrorism? None of this has been made clear.
</blockquote>
&#8220;How exactly are we supposed to trust in free and open debate when those setting the limits are openly setting them up with embedded double-standards?&#8221; Shapiro asked. &#8220;The answer is, we don&#8217;t. Trust in social media is declining nearly as fast as trust in media overall. There&#8217;s a reason for that. And it&#8217;s not because social media tolerates voices like Jones. It&#8217;s because they don&#8217;t tolerate voices like Jones while tolerating voices who are just as bad on the political Left &#8211; and they show no signs of limiting their censorship to Alex Jones.&#8221;

Facebook, Instagram Ban ‘Dangerous’ Figures: Alex Jones, Laura Loomer, Paul Joseph Watson

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