Twitter temporarily restricts conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' account

Alex Jones is known for spreading misinformation online
Getty Images for SiriusXM
Alexandra Richards15 August 2018

Twitter has temporarily banned controversial radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Mr Jones’ was banned from the platforms after he posted a video on Twitter calling on his reporters to “get their battle rifles” ready to fight.

Twitter confirmed to NBC News that Mr Jones’ account would be put on read-only mode for a week from Tuesday onwards, meaning he could read posts but he could not interact with people from his account.

Twitter said that Mr Jones’ video violated their company policy and demanded that the radio host delete the offending tweet.

The move comes after tech giants Apple, Facebook and YouTube banned Mr Jones from their platforms last week.

Mr Jones has been criticised on numerous occasions for promoting conspiracy theories including falsely claiming that the 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was staged.

Facebook claimed in August that it would be removing four of Mr Jones’ pages for “repeatedly posting content over the past several days that breaks [the company’s] Community Standards."

Both Apple and Spotify have also removed Mr Jones’ podcast from their services.

YouTube told NBC News Mr Jones “repeatedly” violated their policies “against hate speech and harassment.

Initially Twitter did not make moves to regulate Mr Jones’ account, with CEO Jack Dorsey claiming that the Mr Jones’ had not violated any of the company’s rules.

However, after receiving public backlash the company moved to temporarily ban Mr Jones.

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