One month after it distinguished itself from the rest of the tech industry by declining to bar the rightwing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones from its platform, Twitter fell in line Thursday, permanently banning the accounts of both Jones and his website Infowars. His broadcasts and website feature a mix of false information, hate-mongering, conspiracy theories and general ranting. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Spotify and Apple Podcasts all allowed Jones to use their platforms to build his following until this summer, when a reporter from CNN, Oliver Darcy, publicly asked Facebook to explain how it could claim to combat hate speech and misinformation while continuing to amplify Jones. An analysis by the New York Times this week found that Jones’ audience has decreased significantly in the wake of his bans from Facebook and YouTube. The figures suggest that together the two social media platforms were responsible for doubling Jones’ audience.

Source: The Guardian September 06, 2018 22:01 UTC