Infowars’ Own Website Admits ‘It Is Not Censorship If You Violate the Rules and Your Post is Deleted’
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has responded to social media platforms removing Infowars’ pages by claiming he is being targeted in a “Nazi style censorship” campaign, when in reality, the content is being taken down because it violates terms of use rules incorporated by the sites.
Ironically, Infowars own website has a list of terms and conditions that one must agree to if they wish to use the website, which states, “It is not censorship if you violate the rules and your post is deleted.”
Apple, Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, and a number of other social media giants have opted to drop Jones and Infowars content from their sites, which, according to Jones, is a violation of his right to free speech, as he can no longer post on those platforms. Of course, the obvious rebuttle to Jones and his ilk is that private companies — unlike the government — are not required to allow you to use their space to broadcast your ideas.
Which brings us to the Infowars terms of service page:
“You will not post anything libelous, defamatory, harmful, threatening, harassing, abusive, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, racially or ethnically objectionable, or otherwise illegal. You will not make threats to other users or people not associated with the site. If you violate these rules, your posts and/or user name will be deleted. Remember: you are a guest here. It is not censorship if you violate the rules and your post is deleted. All civilizations have rules and if you violate them you can expect to be ostracized from the tribe.”
Jones and Infowars have managed to violate nearly all those rules on other websites, but instead of responding by accepting that he is broken the rules of other sites — who, just like Infowars, are allowed to decide who uses their platforms — Jones has responded with hysterics.
“Have your fake victory over free speech (Alex Jones), don’t recognize you’re against your own birth right,” Jones tweeted in response. “But we know the only reason you’re censoring Infowars is because we’re more effective than you could ever imagine. As you fake celebrate, we know deep down you’re miserable.”
It is not clear when Jones and Infowars crossed the line in the eyes of Silicon Valley, but his history of pushing conspiracies about 9/11, Pizzagate, and Sandy Hook are among his most famous instances of disturbing behavior.
[image via screengrab]
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