Elon Musk restores X account of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Elon Musk has restored the X account, formerly known as Twitter, of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, following a poll on the social media platform.
Jones was originally banned from the platform by the previous owners after repeatedly breaking rules prohibiting harassment and hate.
Musk posted a poll on Saturday asking users if Jones should be reinstated. 70% of nearly 2 million responses voted “Yes.”
Early Sunday, Musk replied to the poll saying, “The people have spoken, and so it shall be.”
A slew of major advertisers left X in the recent week in the wake of decisions made by Musk.
Musk acknowledged Saturday that reinstating Jones would “be bad for X financially,” but he made the decision anyway arguing “Principles matter more than money.”
Previously, Musk said he would not reinstate Jones because of his false claims about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that killed 26 people, including 20 children. Over the years, Jones has repeatedly called the shooting a hoax. Jones was found liable for defamation in court and has been ordered to pay $1.1 billion to families of victims because of his statements about the shooting.
Musk said he disagreed with Jones’ Sandy Hook comments but said, “Are we a platform that believes in freedom of speech or are we not?” in a post on X.