Social media platform X will reinstate the account of US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after a poll of the site’s users backed his return, X owner Elon Musk said on Sunday.
“The people have spoken and so it shall be,” Musk posted in reply to a poll on Saturday on whether to reinstate the Jones account. Close to 2 million votes were cast by the time the poll closed, with about 70 per cent voting in favour of Jones’ return.
In a post following the completion of the poll, he said X would “abide by the will of the people.”
Reuters could not immediately verify if the account was restored early on Sunday.
Alex Jones files for bankruptcy following US$1.5 billion Sandy Hook verdicts
Alex Jones files for bankruptcy following US$1.5 billion Sandy Hook verdicts
Musk on Friday agreed with a user on X that permanent bans are antithetical with free speech, while also responding to another subscriber that Jones would not be allowed to break the law.
Since Musk’s takeover of the platform, it has reinstated previously suspended accounts including that of former US President Donald Trump.
The platform formerly known as Twitter permanently banned Jones and his website Infowars in 2018, saying that the accounts had violated its behaviour policies.
Permanent suspension, its most severe action, removes the account from global review and prevents the person from creating new accounts.
The ban came weeks after Apple, Alphabet’s YouTube, and Facebook took down podcasts and channels from Jones, citing community standards.
Alex Jones, who has promoted conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook school shooting, was ordered last year to pay nearly US$1.5 billion in damages to relatives of the victims for falsely claiming they were actors who staged the shooting as part of a government plot to seize Americans’ guns.
This month, he was given clearance by a court to sell his firearms, cars, jewellery and boats on the Infowars show to obtain the highest value for them in covering the cost of his bankruptcy.