Twitter permanently bans Alex Jones and Infowars
Twitter is permanently banning right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his "Infowars" show, citing abusive behavior.
"Today, we permanently suspended @realalexjones and @infowars from Twitter and Periscope. We took this action based on new reports of Tweets and videos posted yesterday that violate our abusive behavior policy, in addition to the accounts' past violations," the company said in a tweet.
Today, we permanently suspended @realalexjones and @infowars from Twitter and Periscope. We took this action based on new reports of Tweets and videos posted yesterday that violate our abusive behavior policy, in addition to the accounts’ past violations. https://t.co/gckzUAV8GL
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) September 6, 2018
The suspension means Jones won't be able to create new accounts on Twitter or take over any existing ones, the company said. Jones had about 900,000 followers on Twitter. "Infowars" had about 430,000.
The video cited shows Jones shouting at and berating CNN journalist Oliver Darcy for some 10 minutes during congressional hearings about social media.
Twitter suspended Jones for a week last month. Other tech companies have limited Jones by suspending him for longer periods, as Facebook did, and by taking down his pages and radio stations.
-- The Associated Press contributed reporting