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| Accounts owned by Alex Jones and his InfoWars website were permanently banned from Twitter on Thursday for violating the company's abusive behavior policy, in addition to past violations. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI |
By Daniel Uria, UPI
Twitter permanently banned accounts belonging to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his InfoWars website Thursday.
The social media company announced Jones and InfoWars -- a right-wing conspiracy theory website -- were permanently banned from Twitter and Twitter-owned video streaming service Periscope after receiving reports of tweets and videos shared by the accounts on Wednesday that violated Twitter's abusive behavior policy, in addition to past violations.
"We will continue to evaluate reports we receive regarding other accounts potentially associated with @realalexjones or @infowars and will take action if content that violates our rules is reported or if other accounts are utilized in an attempt to circumvent their ban," Twitter wrote.
Jones' account had previously been restricted for seven days in August after he posted a video in which he encourage listeners to get "battle rifles" ready, adding "Now is time to act on the enemy before they do a false flag."
Prior to the incident, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey declined to take action against Jones and his accounts, stating they hadn't violated any community rules.
Dorsey's initial decision not to ban the accounts broke step with other platforms after Facebook and Google's YouTube removed his accounts for violating ethics and hate speech standards, while Apple and Spotfiy removed his content for hate speech violations.
Jones was known for pushing conspiracy theories including calling the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in which 26 children and adults were killed, a hoax and accusing David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in which 17 people were killed, a crisis actor.
In April, two families of children killed in Sandy Hook sued Jones for defamation for his comments on the shooting.
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