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Twitter suspends Infowars' Alex Jones

August 15, 2018

The action follows a tweet by the far-right figure calling for violence against media and others. Twitter had so far refused to take Jones' account offline, saying the conspiracy theorist did not violate its rules.

https://p.dw.com/p/33DUb
Alex Jones, a right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist, arrives at the courthouse in Austin, Texas in April, 2017.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman/J. Janner

Twitter on Tuesday suspended the account of far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for one week after he tweeted a link to a video calling for violence.

The suspension means that Jones will not be able to tweet or retweet from his personal account for seven days.

Twitter, however, refused to take the account for his "Infowars" show off line.

Jones tweeted a link to a video calling for supporters to get their "battle rifles" ready against media and others, The New York Times reported.

Twitter said the tweet violated the company's rule against inciting violence.

Twitter's action comes more than a week after other major technology companies such as Facebook, Apple, YouTube and Spotify took down material published by Jones and Infowars for having violated their hate speech policies.

Twitter had so far refused to act against Jones, saying he did not break any rules.

Twitter users criticized the social media platform for the lack of action.

Since founding Infowars in 1999, Jones has promoted a range of conspiracy theories, including one suggesting that the US government was involved in the September 11 attacks.

Read moreSandy Hook parents sue right-wing radio host Alex Jones for defamation

ap/rc (AP, Reuters)

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