Musk Puts Alex Jones on X Again

After survey, billionaire flops on promise to keep conspiracy theorist off the platform
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 10, 2023 10:10 AM CST
Musk Puts Alex Jones on X Again
Infowars founder Alex Jones appears in court during the Sandy Hook defamation damages trial in Connecticut in September 2022.   (Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool, File)

Alex Jones has posted his first tweet since 2018, and it wasn't a heartfelt apology to the Sandy Hook families. Elon Musk, the social media platform's boss, put Jones back on the site Saturday after asking users whether he should; 70% of roughly 2 million votes in the online survey supported bringing Jones back. "The people have spoken and so it shall be," Musk posted Sunday, NPR reports. A year ago, when he was pushed to reinstate the conspiracy theorist and Infowars founder, Musk posted only "No." The previous management of what was then Twitter kicked Jones off for violating its "abusive behavior policy"—a suspension said to be permanent. Jones had repeatedly insisted the 2012 Sandy Hook mass school shooting was a hoax.

This puts Jones back on the site in time for the anniversary Thursday of the Connecticut attack that killed 20 children and six educators. A court did its speaking on the issue a year ago, finding Jones liable for more than $1 billion in a defamation suit; he has not paid the families anything so far. "I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame," Musk had said last year about Jones. This weekend, he suggested there's little to be concerned about because X's crowd-sourced fact-checking service can "respond rapidly to any AJ post that needs correction," per NPR. Jones' first post on X was to share a welcome back from Andrew Tate, an influencer facing rape and human trafficking charges, per CNBC. (More Alex Jones stories.)

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