What would happen if instead of trying to correct the many lies that Alex Jones posts in order to hurt the parents of the children who died in Sandy Hook, twitter users instead posted hateful lies about Alex Jones?
Would Alex Jones still be demanding that all those twitter users be allowed to post any lies about him no matter how sickening?
5
See what happens in America when you try to ban something?
probably Russians
1
Dear Alex Jones followers who don't understand the Constitution:
The first amendment protects the right NOT to print lies about parents mourning their 6 year old children.
Alex Jones followers seem to believe that the first amendment means that you can say most odious lies about someone and force the media to carry your lies on every platform.
The Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis have always printed their own newspapers explaining that the Holocaust is a lie and Hitler was a hero. That did NOT mean that every media organization had to print those lies.
So why do Alex Jones supporters insist that he get special treatment?
7
No surprise. Traitor Trump and his mob, can't get enough of their fellow sociopath.
3
If Google, Apple and Facebook took down InfoWars content, why are they still offering their app....that makes no sense.
7
"The merchandise tab on the app pushes people to purchase Infowars goods, such as T-shirts, diet supplements and male-vitality pills."
So his audience is a bunch of obese dudes with erectile disfunction?
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
8
Liberals: I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Progressives: I disapprove of what you say, I censor you on social media and call for physical violence against your right to say it.
Personally, InfoWars has zero credibility on any subject but should be able to publish their stuff short of advocating violence.
4
Alex Jones is absolutely free to start "NeoNazi Facebook" and can post the rantings of David Duke and Adolf Hitler along with Alex Jones. Then every American who loves that kind of "news" should be absolutely free to join NeoNazi Facebook where they know the rantings of Adolf Hitler and Alex Jones will be reported as the truth.
Our country has lost its collective mind. Allah help our allies. I've given up on us.
3
This is not censorship. Social media outlets can choose which material they will publish. If I made outrageous claims on this forum, the NY Times would not publish it.
We have to take a stand against fake news.
8
Oh, this is good to hear!
Along with the obvious concern that Alex Jones' expulsion from social media suggests a Deep State coup by the Hillary-Podesta-Lizard Illuminati cabal is in the offing, there is a very real public health risk to those denied access to Alex's chem-trail-cleansers and related homeopathic miracle-medicines.
See, e.g., "Alex Jones Warns Fans Quitting His Supplements Cold Turkey Can Lead To Homosexuality, Judaism" @ https://www.theonion.com/alex-jones-warns-fans-quitting-his-supplements-...
3
Ultimately, what does this situation say about America? No wonder someone like Trump got elected. He is the "chairman of the board" of the conspiracy club and his cult members of which there is a significant number, just love him for it.
1
“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.” - Søren Kierkegaard
2
First off, I believe in the first amendment for pretty much everybody including the Times and Alex Jones. As for conspiracy theories the Times has run a two year long campaign against Trump yet that's A-OK. Like the first amendment says and even your famous logo says "Everything that fits". (I hope that's right since my digital only version doesn't say that.)
I don't listen to or watch Jones-I have to work, have hobbies, chores, etc. I have to walk my little dog occassionaly. I read the Times daily. However, I did get to watch a few minutes of him just before the 2016 Presidential election. To say I was impressed would be underestimating the situation. He knocked it out of the park with his prediction that Trump would win to the perfect Hillary. Most people including myself thought she would win easily and were saying that well into election night. He was right, You and I were wrong.
I believe the Times doesn't understand the entire problem. Americans want rights, the Amendments, and the Bill of Rights for most everyone not just for the folks in NYC, California, and Chicago. If the remainder of the population has a different viewpoint they are Neanderthals, racists, bigots, sexists, misogynists, xenophobes, ad infinitum.
Has censorship lost again? Has freedom of speech run around the information wall? It may be so. I just downloaded Alex Jones app although I doubt I will have time to see what it's about.
4
This is what happens when you restrict free speech. What is prohibited instantly becomes alluring. The forbidden fruit is irresistible because it is forbidden. This unwise move by the tech companies will be responsible for instant growth in popularity of Alex Jones’ disgusting conspiracy mongering. For libertarians and anybody concerned with freedom of speech, Alex Jones will become a martyr. For conservatives, he already is. And what for? There is a libel lawsuit going on right now which could be effective in stopping his lies about shooting victims. It’s too bad Facebook would not hire some historians and social scientists who could predict exactly what would happen if the company arbitrarily tried to silence some voices but not others. Censorship is never an answer.
1
Quite simply, freedom of speech is NOT absolute.
3
I never paid any attention to Alex Jones before he was muzzled by Big Tech, but I've since downloaded his app and find him to be an entertaining guy.
4
I am sad and ashamed to see how easily and emotionally even the educated citizens of my country are giving up on the hard-won and enlightened concept or freedom of speech.
When we find we do need it, quite possibly in the not too distant future, we won't have it any more, thanks to those who both don't understand it and who take it for granted that they will somehow always have it even after it is taken from others.
4
I am surprised that anyone is dumb enough to believe anything on the Infowars site. Why are we giving them publicity by writing stories in the NYT about them?
2
@Ed Norman
Not at all. It's a news item with political interest.
Two things I would like to share. First, I fundamentally believe in free speech. But the First Amendment does not protect incitement to violence or harassment. In the clearest case, Jones has for years encouraged his followers to harass families whose children were victims of the Sandyhook shooting. Many of these families have had to relocate time and again as a result. Now Jones' lawyer is pushing to have the address and phone numbers of those families who are suing his client for defamation made public. Why? To intimidate them. Jones is a public figure with a public platform actively and successfully promoting the harassment and intimidation of private individuals, and has been doing so for several years now. And this is only example.
Secondly, the fact that more people are seeking out Jones' app and website is neither surprising nor necessarily an indication that his support his growing. I spent a couple hours on the Infowars site myself yesterday after the news was first released that his content would be removed from Facebook etc...And I was already familiar with Jones' lies, fear mongering and complete stupidity. Nonetheless, I was seeking out fresh information. Of course it doesn't help that the US President is one Jones' avowed fans and supporters.
2
@Michelle
If what you say is true, then Jones is guilty of criminal harassment. That's a matter for the courts.
@Michelle
The American media, the so-called legitimate press has encouraged people, mostly liberals, to harass Trump supporters. American elected officials and syndicated columnists (fifth columnists) have plainly instructed, through the press, to the public that Trump Administration officials and other supporters should be actively harassed in private life and on the streets.
@Michelle - There are laws about harassment and libel and even incitement to violence. Courts can award damages and issue cease and desist orders. The answer is not blanket censoring of web content and the clear threat to the principle of free speech that such bans represent, whether by government or large corporations that control the means of communication.
Boy, not long ago liberals would have been suspicious about having a big, greedy, faceless corporation deciding what they see and hear. Now, it seems, we're begging Big Brother to make the tough decisions for us. This is progress? People should trust in the suits (not journalists, mind you, but BUSINESS people) to play omsbudsman? This is not a sound strategy.
7
Check the IP addresses of those downloads, and you'll find that a single IP downloaded it hundreds of times or more.
Ideas of hatred only grow due to lies, and manipulation -
Although I disagree with alot of stuff Alex Jones does, it is immoral to silence the freedom of speech of others, i have decide to download the infowars app out of virtue and the strong belief of freedom of speech and to show "the man" that I disagree with their policy of silencing the freedom of speech of anyone, including Alex Jones. If you come across this comment and you are strong believer in freedom of speech and you are in disagrement with what the tech corporate overlords have done then download the infowars app as a form of protest against silencing peoples freedom of speech. These tech companies are private corporations, we need to work around the fact that these companies hold a monopoly on freedom of speech, this is power that can be misused and will and has been misused to silence people freedom of speech, download the infowars app.
6
@Armando
You have it backwards. It's immoral to call parents of children who were slaughtered in their classroom 'crisis actors'.
Nobody is "silencing" him. Businesses have the right to refuse people who disrupt their setting. Period.
@Armando
You HAVE freedom to download the app! You can read Alex Jones along with the National Enquirer and the News of the Day.
By the way, demanding that the NY Times print the ravings of someone who claimed to have married Bigfoot is NOT "freedom of the press". It is trying to force the press to gives lies equal weight with the truth.
1
Infowars has a web site, right? Nobody is taking that down. Anyone can go there and read kooky "news articles" all day long. As a society, the big mistake we're making here is thinking the these private tech companies ARE the total real estate of free speech. They are not. They exist to make money which is why they are struggling to deal with this issue. They ban plenty of other content that they think might hamper the bottom line. They do not own free speech and are imperfect vehicles for this debate and they can ultimately ban whoever they deem in error against their rules. When facebook's CEO won't stand up for proven historical events - WWII, Sandy Hook - by saying there's room for conspiracy theories on the platform no matter how repugnant, people should realize they're dealing with an amoral beast that is the largest information dissemination platform in the world but is nearly indiscriminate about the type and quality of information. Whether you support that platform is something to seriously consider. If a professionally reported and edited article is presented in the same format as the ravings of a lunatic, then ultimately the whole endeavor becomes confused junk. Societies are just beginning to figure out how to use and regulate these technologies. In the painful process, we're making Infowars look like it has a shred of sanity.
3
Quick, someone tell me there is no one on the grassy knoll this time, because my first thought is, how many of those downloads are coming from Russian URLs?
3
Free speech is one thing; hate speech entirely another. Those who see this debate as being about the former rather than the latter are responsible for this country being in the mess we now find ourselves in.
3
@Rick - Who decides what is "hate" speech? Just like who decides what is "fake" news? I guess if you are confident that those doing the deciding will always think like you do, you have no trouble with them banning "hate" or "fake" speech. I don't have that confidence so I'd like to preserve the widest possible definition of "free" speech so that it will have the widest possible support within our society.
When the President of the United States is calling the mainstream news media "the enemy of the people" and accusing it of spreading "fake news," it is no time to be tearing down the First Amendment.
Of course if you have so little faith in your fellow citizens that you think they must be protected from stupidities like Alex Jones and Infowars, then just admit that you no longer believe in democracy and want to replace it with some other system. And then try to imagine who is likely to be in change of such a system in the future and how you'll fit in.
2
Is Apple making money off the app and/or its in-product purchases? That should be diverted to good causes.
6
I am old enough to remember when the ACLU defended the right of neo-Nazis to march through Skokie, Illinois, which was then home to many Holocaust survivors. There was such a commitment to free speech and the free market of ideas, that the ACLU held their nose for the cause of something greater: the ability for an educated public to ferret out the good from the bad. We are quickly moving from being a people unafraid to defend all manner of speech, including that which we find personally abhorrent, to a country fearful of any speech that differs from our own. The result won't be less hateful speech but much, much more.
11
The ACLU defended the right of an organization to get a parade permit from the government.
But last I checked, no government runs Google Play or the App Store.
4
@Scott
The ACLU never demanded that the NY Times and other legitimate news organizations print that the Holocaust was a fraud and no Jews died in concentration camps. Those kinds of things were published in the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazi newsletters and that was fine.
You are lying to claim that the ACLU demanded that every major news organization print the lies of the neo-Nazis and Klux Klan.
The ACLU said that neo-Nazis were free to spew their lies at a rally. They did not say that a legitimate organization needed to give equal weight to the neo-Nazi lies in order to be "fair" and give David Duke a platform whenever he wanted to post that the Holocaust was a lie.
There is a difference.
2
Then there is the under-reported connection between Jones' QAnon leadership role. Wait until all those followers discover their rather ironic roles in a total Deep State operation.
It's like people rushing to buy the National Enquirer but nastier and with more lies
3
@Tom J
Exactly -- it is exactly like people rushing to buy the National Enquirer.
And that is the only place where Alex Jones belongs -- on platforms that give outrageous lies the same weight as truth.
3
@RJ - like Judith Miller and her claims of weapons of mass destruction? :))
How many of these 5-star reviews are written by Russian Info warriors?
8
Inquiring minds want to know! The national Enquirer quietly selectively supports Trump periodically, at your local grocer, as you check out. The "uninformed" base needs feeding, at all cost. Low information voters are not stupid, just fatalistic and hopeless, as the largest share of children go to bed in poverty.
2
Snake oil salesmen/women have existed in this country since before it was founded. People want to buy his junk (probably made overseas) and believe his fact less, improvable conspiracies, because they think their own lives are so miserable and meaningless they need something or someone to blame. Who cares? When it start to lean toward violence at his behest, then censorship, possibly legal actions more than civil lawsuits, are justifiable.
4
@Moses yr commit has no facts to support yr views and yet yr given a platform to spread yr lies. Alex has proof for everything he says. Although yr ignorance is inexcusable yr free speech has been protected by the people in the infowars staff
2
Sunshine is the best disinfectant. Eventually the snowflake generation will learn this the hard way. Sad to see censorship of this kind on the internet because some people are "offended". Living in separate right/left echo chambers is damaging both the truth and eventually our democracy. You can't stop lies by keeping them in the shadows.
4
When I look up the word "pathetic", there's a picture of Alex Jones.
What's up with that?
3
Apple, Google. Step up, remove the app from your stores.
11
@tony if Jones was simply a conspiracy theorist he would not be such a threat. People who think he participates in hate speech, or say he’s racists have never listened to his show. Trying to purge him from the internet is only going to make Infowars 100 times bigger than it is now(the Streisand effect). Furthermore, infowars is worth 1.5 billion dollars, many don’t realize this. Alex Jones is unstoppable.
1
The big data noose is tightening on thought in America. Alex Jones is a symptom of the draconian thought police in America the buffoonery of Alex Jones his conspiracy theories okay he is a nut job. But what he six eleites who control the inter webs have done is effectively geofenced Alex jones followers. the bigger problem will be as Twitters CEO says we wont amplify his twit. Because now The info Wars App is tha trojan horse back door to shutting down dissent. We are now at a slippery slope. Your enemy's are self identifying and now you have the power to filter their speech on social media what happens when that weapon is used on us? If Zepher Teach out for instance is suing face book and Google and Twitter? Think about it the shot has crossed the bow you are allowed your speech as long as Tim cook controls it and makes money on your backs.
It's right to worry about censorship and stifling differing opinions, even if some voices are hateful, ignorant, and disgusting.
But there's a paradox here. The extreme right conspiracy theorists want free speech only if it benefits them, but would suppress facts and institutions (like the free press) that tell the truth. This is precisely what President Trump advocates, and is a hallmark of fascism.
10
@jrinsc, the second paragraph of your post above is delusional. Articles on the InfoWars site regularly link to articles posted by the N.Y. Times, Slate, Politico, The Rolling Stone, and other left-leaning outlets. Often the commentary points out disagreement with these outlets, but there is also agreement on points made by writers who do not accord with the views of InfoWars writers. InfoWars evidently does NOT suppress these other outlets. The fact that you are unaware of this is YOUR problem. You need to be better informed of your target when you offer a critique.
2
Just what the world needs, an echo chamber of lies, stupidity and hate.
7
I have no sympathy for Jones, but some criticism of these arbitrarily-enforced social media 'user agreements' is warranted. Infowars traffics in disinformation (also vitamin supplements, but mostly Lies), but as dangerous as Alex Jones is to our democracy, political liberalism cannot truly thrive if speech is not truly free, or if the ties of our common citizenship seem to take second place to political tribalism and ideological affinities...
Books won't stay banned; Tweets won't burn. Ideas won't go to jail. If history is any guide, censors and the inquisitors tend to lose, in time. No matter how zealously they attempt to enforce an orthodoxy of ideas. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas. There exists a limit to the force even the most powerful may apply without undermining whatever 'Truths' they hold dear... Judging the limits of power and the possibility of push-back is the true artistry of Power.
12
@Justin Sigman Jones has a right to say whatever he wants, even if his words are bold-faced lies. What he doesn't have a right to is a free, uncensored, worldwide platform for his shtick.
7
@Justin Sigman Jones has the right to say anything he wants only if he stays in the right side of label and slander laws. The remedy to his nutty theories is ridicule. The remedy to his character assassination is prosecution.
Why is the Trump government not prosecuting him for libel? Oh, that's right. Never mind.
2
I looked up “greed” in the dictionary, and it said “see Apple”.
6
This is election interference! We are approx 90 days out from key mid-term elections. The LEFT, support by Big Tech, didn't get their candidate into the White House in 2016. This is a coordinated effort by Big Tech. It is unprecedented. It is collusion. You should be very concerned about what's happening. This ideology that is under attack is the same ideology that led to 1776. This is an anti-establishment, freethinking, freedom-loving ideology that is touted by Alex Jones and his platform. We have been told by politicians and Silicon Valley elites that the greatest threat to our democracy is the information shared in social media--what shows up in your search results, your news feed. Is a difference of opinion enough to silence someone? How long before it's another person that is shutdown by the establishment. We cannot accept this censorship.
6
@LB you cannot be serious? his hate speech and conspiracy theories are not protected by the 1st amendment.
9
You are correct not to accept this horrific “censorship.” Better move to other country. Please. As soon as you can find a better one.
6
@Chigirl
Hate speech is absolutely protected by the first amendment, as are conspiracy theories.
What exempts him from 1A protection is that the tech companies are private. 1A says that "congress shall make no law" - it doesn't tell us anything about what private companies can or can't do.
It is not Alex Jones’ views (as reprehensible as they are) that are driving the decisions to cut his access but his demonstrably false statements about matters of fact. He uses lies to incite violence and anger against others. For this he is rightly and legally censured.
29
I continue to be surprised so many are okay with attempting to silence someone because he/she does not agree with their views. Dialog and discussion between humans with differing view points is a desirable thing - no?
13
The Government is not censoring Infowars. When Government intervenes then I would back the idiot Alex Jones up.
4
Private industry isn’t the government. It can refuse to serve refuse to anyone.
7
@BeesMakeHoney I disagree with 99% of the views expressed on Fox News, but I will fight to the death for its right to air them. But Infowars is not a news outlet that deals in facts. Jones spreads lies and unfounded conspiracy theories. In a recent hearing in a lawsuit filed against him by Sandy Hook parents, his lawyers argued that most of what Jones said is so ridiculous no one could possibly believe him. Sadly, apparently they were wrong.
6
There's a ton of journalists and would-be journalists (podcasters and "journalists" who have a website that 4 people read) so I'm going to make a guess here:
This is why the initial release of this app is going viral--people curious about what's in it and commenting on how horrific it is.
I'm not convinced (yet) that all the downloads are by "true believers" of Alex Jones (although 45 has brought many to the surface). I'm betting that many are the same folks who click on those stupid "ads" and "news stories" that inhabit the bottom of a website.
Or folks who will click on pictures of carnage or some horrific face-eating bacteria.
NYTimes needs to do a follow-up in two weeks and let's see how many downloads this app is getting then.
Is there a way of documenting how many apps get deleted or documenting "clicks"?
7
@slim1921
Youtube's own analytics disclosed Jones's channels had over 2.5 million subscribers prior to the shut-down.
Jones' popularity shouldn't really be surprising: the great irony of this "Information Age" is that its technologies predominately serve to disseminate 'disinformation'...
...And Man isn't a rational animal, rather a credulous one: in the absence of sound reasons for his beliefs, he will be quite content with silly ones...
4
@slim1921
Many (including myself) are downloading it not to indicate support for Jones but rather to protest Apple's purge.
@Charles
Also assume that pro-left trolls have downloaded the app in droves - in order to ridicule Jones' disinformation campaign and -- play.
Alex Jones posted BREAKING: Democrats Plan To Launch [a second] Civil War On July 4th.
Twitter responded with hilarious "letters home from soldiers in the field".
As odious as Jones may be to most,
censorship is frightening in any form and un-American. This is not “1984.” If big tech companies allow for liberal fringe speech (Antifa, which hasn’t not been censored), then I see a very big constitutional Supreme Court fight brewing.
11
@XLER He is not being censored. His website is up and running, putting out this message.
There is no constitutional right to post on Facebook, have an Podcast distributed by Apple, or even your story printed in the newspaper. Private companies may pick and choose what goes out on their platforms by any rules they want and that's got nothing to do with free speech.
19
@Shawn
Exactly. I keep trying to say the same thing. Sadly, I can't stop myself from adding that I think anybody who watches Alex Jones is an idiot, so the Times ditches my comments. Maybe this one will slip by because it's just a reply to a reply and few people are likely to read it and get their feelings hurt.
@Shawn
"Private companies may pick and choose"
Unless they're wedding bakers.
Well, at least it will now be easier to identify the members of the right fringe - many of them will have that app on their phones. Not being able to hide behind the vast numbers of users that Facebook and other social media have might help law enforcement identify them. That is, if law enforcement is actually interested in knowing who they are. Not sure about that, though, Mr. Trump thinks they are "mostly good people",although he omits the "racist" part when he says so.
9
@Pete in Downtown
Yeah, let's throw out the Fourth Amendment along with the First. Who'll notice?
4
@Charles
I wouldn't worry about the Feds doing much about the alt-right and it's violent fringe right now.
After all, their boss (Trump) isn't worried about it.
On another note (unreasonable search and seizure): Have you traveled abroad and returned to the US recently? Strange happenings there. Border and customs can actually demand passwords and access to anything on your phone, including email and social media accounts.
It’s outrageous that Apple and Google continue to allow this app to be available through their app stores. They (Apple especially) have strict guidelines about what types of apps can be distributed. They need to take Alex Jones app down immediately - until they do they are complicit.
18
Alex Jones is the very definition of a man (falsely) yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater. He should be shut down altogether. He is a threat to national security (maybe Trump will put a tariff on him?).
22
@Jim "He should be shut down altogether"
Someone once said: "I don't like what you say, but I'll fight for your right to say it"
History class lesson: "ACLU HISTORY: TAKING A STAND FOR FREE SPEECH IN SKOKIE"
"In 1978, the ACLU took a controversial stand for free speech by defending a neo-Nazi group that wanted to march through the Chicago suburb of Skokie"
https://www.aclu.org/other/aclu-history-taking-stand-free-speech-skokie
Your belief in "shutting him down altogether" is misguided.
The answer is simple. Let him speak. You can either ignore him or debunk/challenge his ideas if you disagree.
4
@rfmd1 "Fire!" in a crowded theater does not qualify as "an idea."
@Jim
"It's Time to Stop Using the 'Fire in a Crowded Theater' Quote"
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/11/its-time-to-stop-us...
To LR: there is nothing "good" about Alex Jones.
12
I admit all the ruckus about Jones has intrigued me enough to watch some of the "Best of Alex Jones" compilations available.
He's a good entertainer when he's at his best. He can launch into the kinds of diatribes that, even when you're not taking them seriously, have a magnetic quality simply because of his apparent emotional fervor.
If one weren't grounded enough in the first, I can easily see how people might take this stuff seriously, equating seemingly raw emotion with raw truth so to speak. Plus, I can see the satisfaction that might come from being a part of a "woke" group: knowing more than your neighbors do, etc.
3
The real tragedy for Jones is the loss of custody of his children. While it's obviously unfortunate that his behavior has gotten him banned from several social media platforms, far worse is that a judge was so critical of his performance at a 2017 custody hearing that it was decided that his ex-wife should have total control over where his children get to live.
That's brutal and the worst part is that it's all a consequence of his own actions. I'm not surprised the dude has continued to lash out at Sandy Hook victims' families. Poor guy.
4
@Michael He has no choice. He's an entertainer with only one routine.
This is a good thing as it pushes him deeper into his own silo which will crank up the hate but significantly limit his growth.
7
Who’s surprised about this? Our backwards looking voters elected a racist, and their kind are just gravitating to this natural comfort zone. Why doesn’t the left have someone to balance the scales? Oh yeah, NPR, who is dependent on listeners to survive since the repugnant’s in charge see them as a threat. What a world.
13
This is no big deal.
On the anniversary of Charlottesville-
People who want to listen to and buy into hate will not be stopped by any rules. They enjoy listening to and promoting evil and lies and hate. This is their sorry life! There will be reckoning at some point.
Let them have their app! At least they’re not on my social media platforms.
5
So do neo-nazi’s, alt-right white supremest’s and the klan have their own apps and can one download it from Goggle or Apple? Its fascinating to watch tech wrap itself into a logic pretzel trying to have it both ways while striving to divorce platform from content. You make it available for free or profit you own the results. Sooner or later the platforms will be held accountable for the content they make accessible. ( or so many of us hope) and the nutcases like Jones will have to rely on old tech to spread their trash. You know hate radio and Sinclair based local television.
9
I personally three people who listen to Alex Jones, and all three have diagnosed mental health issues, and all three believe keeping a large stash of assault weapons is going to solve some vague, nameless problem they see coming. That problem used to be Obama, now they don't know what it is.
No further comment.
42
My father is an Italian immigrant (permanent resident not citizen ) and listens to this sick man. It hurts my heart he is so brainwashed . Yes, he also blamed Obama for all of his problems. Now, its Hillary's and "liberals" fault even though she lost and a maniac became president.
2
@joel strayer
These people are ticking time bombs.
Law enforcement: please take away their guns NOW.
@joel strayer If trump gets removed from office, I think those folks will have a new crusade.
We must resist the urge to censor this guy. Social media platforms are in a way the new public square, better to ignore these voices rather than banning them.
Attempts to ban these voices are more dangerous than their words.
13
Really. Because of Jones’ Sandy Hook lies parents of murdered children have been doxed and forced to move. A man with a rifle arracked a pizza parlor. The crazy supporters of Jones have made life dangerous for citizens. Jones is creating an army of lunatics with weapons. Jones isn’t the victim here. He needs to be stopped. Sue his snake oil selling pants off. Let him run his empire of hate on his own web site.
2
@Lane this isn't censorship.
If I walk into a local business and start screaming insults and obscenities to other people within that business, the business owners have every right to kick me out.
Why shouldn't online businesses have the same right?
4
Apple and Google will remove the app. They should have done it before, but they are likely preemptively building their legal case given the apps’ removal will result in a big lawsuit (not that they couldn’t afford it).
8
@Jonathan Cohen Another lawsuit for AJ? Good. Apple can drag it out long enough to bankrupt the creep.
11
@Jonathan Cohen
You know, I have never had to pay a dime to Google or Facebook to use their platforms. Not a dime. Would you like to explain what my damages would be were they to take down my postings? They'd certainly be happy to give me my money back!
These corporations are not governments. They are not forced to give access to anybody and everybody, but up until recently, they did. The government even had to fight them tooth and nail to get them to stop protecting the privacy of sex traffickers.
Now, they're finally waking up to the fact that letting every deranged person post whatever they want is not in the interests of the greater good, and everybody thinks they can be sued for banning websites. Wrong.
16
This is an indictment of the festering, hateful character of the people that listen to Alex Jones. The fact that they live among us makes my skin crawl.
32
So the app now caters to white males who believe in conspiracy theories, have a weight problem and suffer from ED?
Problem is these folks take it beyond just listening to active violent threatening and harassment. The Sandy Hook families can attest to this malicious behavior.
America, we have a problem and it's not just the confusing policies of social media companies.
40
Moral people everywhere should be mortified that this deplorable, soulless reptile has even one follower. I’m not sure how I feel about completely silencing him, but he should be universally condemned, with extreme prejudice.
23
@T. Monk Silencing him would only encourage him. In-fact he's becoming more infamous now thanks to this coordinated attack.
2
@T. Monk
Maybe he should be condemned. As a matter of fact, he certainly is. But it must be in the context of the rule of law or our own freedom is whittled. Let the market of ideas shut him down. If not, and if the present tactics of suppression are accomplished, the result is likely and usually that his popularity and power is enhanced. This is the law of nature when suppression is the mode, as is now unfolding.
1
Alex Jones is deplorable, but he has basically admitted in court filings that his public face is a persona. He effectively uses it to sell a bunch of garbage. The really disgusting thing is that he has a market. We can shout all day about how he shouldn't have a platform, but the problem isn't Alex Jones. The problem is that there are people who can earnestly write the last review mentioned in the article. Maybe limiting Jones' distribution will limit the spread of his abhorrent ideas, but it doesn't cover up the fact that there are still a lot of people out there who buy into them.
15
The fact that this app is trending so highly (and that Apple hasn’t removed it) is a sad commentary on just how debased a large part of our society has become.
49
@John H
Apple will accept hate speech for the right price.
Greed is good at Apple.
Trending means nothing. Regnery Publishing, for example, has been landing the No. 1 rank in The Times's best-seller list for decades. For a week or two, and then it's off to the remainders.
To put this in Hollywood terms, it's one thing to open big, another to have legs.
They can just remove the apps as well. Take away the megaphone and no one will hear him.
35
@bill
And then they came for my apps...
it’s not interest it’s a reaction, most of those apps are going to sit unused and will eventually be deleted, those downloaders are just trying to say to the platform company’s “you can’t tell me what i can and cannot listen to” but ultimately it’s a wash, it’s like the hot new game you download play three or four times and forget about
19
So, Apple doesn’t allow apps related to sexual content, but apps related to generating hate, spreading societal-damaging lies, and racism are okay? What a commentary on values.
72
@Anna K.
Greed is the root of evil.
America worships greed.
@Anna K. Apple allows apps which can display sexual content. They just want you to use their's, Safari.
Imagine a country where millions of people are willingly and enthusiastically signing up for a service that will lie to them on a daily basis. Such is America.
At least in North Korea, the people don't have a choice in the drivel spooned out to them.
Beware the enemy within America, but I fear it's already too late, and the rot too deep.
79
@ACJ
Yeah, it's kind of like "The Triumph of the Will."
So remove his app, right?
15
I read the reviews of the app recently. The fact that there are so many followers of his who believe him is worrisome. I feel for the poor souls from Newtown who have already had their lives destroyed from the loss of their children to violence only to be harassed by his listeners.
63
Methinks that he or she who promulgates such disinformation and sells dubious products probably does not really believe that disinformation and does not really use or believe in the products so proffered. Recall Mr. Colbert in his "Colbert Report" during which he played the role as an right- wing antagonist? Not really him in reality as we see now in his Late Show.
Big Tech has handled this poorly. With the media circus surrounding the removal of his content, Alex Jones has probably gained more new viewers than he has lost. The people that were already listening to his podcasts and watching his videos on across the different digital platforms before they were removed were already sold on it. They can easily seek out his material on his website and elsewhere. Yet many people that had never heard of the website up until now have discovered it through Big Tech's actions and some will inevitably buy into it as well.
I've read that Apple, Facebook and Google's actions were uncoordinated, yet occurred immediately one after the other. I wish they actually would have talked to each other and planned it so that the offending content would have been removed piece by piece, slowly, and in a fashion not to suddenly arouse the media's attention.
2
@James
This guy is a publicist, a preacher, and I have no idea how you were going to remove his content smoothly or without a strike-back on his part. People want to know what has been kept from their usual social media - I don't think it's an accurate picture of how many people believe him. The less of a platform he has, the better. Of course he's not disappearing - not yet, at least - he's a publicity hound. Woof. His voice is so raspy, we can only hope he loses it altogether.
1