alex jones
Latest
Alex Jones and his conspiracy theories are allowed back on X
Elon Musk created a poll on Saturday asking users to vote on whether Alex Jones should be reinstated. After the majority voted "Yes," the conspiracy theorist best known for calling the Sandy Hook massacre a hoax was given his X account back.
Alex Jones ordered to pay $965 million after misinformation campaign targeting Sandy Hook families
A jury awarded $965 million to 15 victims of Alex Jones' conspiracy theories about the 2012 mass shooting. at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Recommended Reading: Imogen Heap's far-reaching influence on music
Recommended Reading highlights the week's best writing on technology and more.
Spotify reportedly took down freshly added episodes of Alex Jones' podcast
The platform banned the far-right conspiracy theorist in 2018.
A quarter of Spotify users now listen to podcasts
Spotify's fourth-quarter financial results show a spike in user growth, and much more love for podcasts on the platform.
Google pulls Infowars from the Play Store over coronavirus misinformation
In 2018, several internet services decided to pull channels from Alex Jones and his Infowars setup, including YouTube and Apple's App Store, but until now the company's app remained available via the Google Play Store. While conspiracy theories and lawsuits from parents who said he'd lied about them and their children weren't enough to earn Jones the boot, Wired reports that the final straw came after Jones published a video disputing quarantine and social distancing efforts meant to slow the spread of COVID-19. Google and other companies have banded together to combat misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, and in a statement a spokesperson said "Now more than ever, combating misinformation on the Play Store is a top priority for the team." The only question left is why they waited so long to do something that seemed inevitable from the start.
Facebook and Instagram ban Alex Jones and other far-right extremists
Facebook is continuing with its stricter responses to hate and violence. Both Facebook and Instagram have banned several predominantly far-right personalities and groups, including Infowars, its creator Alex Jones, Louis Farrakhan, Laura Loomer, Paul Nehlen, Paul Joseph Watson and Milo Yiannopoulos. Infowars was particularly hard-hit on top of earlier crackdowns. The two social networks will remove any content shared from Infowars, with repeat offenders facing their own bans.
Leaked emails show Facebook is still struggling to tackle hate speech
On the same day that Facebook announced it was banning white nationalism from its platforms, journalists obtained a lengthy email chain involving Instagram's content moderators, highlighting their struggle to crack down on anti-Semitism.
YouTube bans secondary Alex Jones channel hosting NZ conspiracy videos
YouTube has terminated a channel Alex Jones was reportedly using to skirt his ban from the platform. On a video posted on Resistance News, which was a secondary Infowars channel according to Media Matters, Jones described last week's New Zealand mosque shootings as a "false flag" operation and attacked Muslims.
Twitter can’t separate verification from validation
2016 was a dumpster fire of a year for Twitter. Abusive language and toxic interaction became the norm across the microblogging site as it saw a dramatic rise in activity from users on the far right and their crystallization into the alt-right movement. But for as painful as last year was for the company, 2017 has seen it steadfastly refuse to do little else but pour more gasoline on the flames.
Did you hear about Infowars asinine iPhone 6 "hairgate" conspiracy theory?
Stop the presses and load your rifles, we need to stop supporting Apple right this second. The masterminds over at The Alex Jones Channel have uncovered the darkest (possibly dumbest) conspiracy theory of all time. You may remember the supposed "iPhone 6 hairgate", click bait short hand for "sometimes hair gets caught on your phone." To the average Apple user it was a non-story. It wasn't a common problem, and the hubbub passed by quickly. That is, until the greatest minds of this generation got to thinking about it and decided that Apple is probably using the iPhone 6 to collect DNA from users by taking their hair. Presumably once Apple has unleashed its diabolical hair removal tool the iPhone 6 and 6+'s included DNA reader will scan your hair follicle and send the information to Apple. That DNA information will then be used to MURDER YOU, or TAKE YOUR GUNS, or SOMETHING SOMETHING TERRIFYING. In an effort to not seem completely batcrap insane the Infowars crew have qualified their reporting with a request that "you decide" if Apple is taking your DNA or not. After all if they ever stood by any of these reports by calling them fact they might actually be held accountable for spreading insanity in the name of page views. There are enough actual threats in the world that if you want to live your life in utter terror you can easily do so. You have the freedom to do that. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you and all that. But the freedom to live in fear doesn't change the fact that DNA readers don't work like this, never mind the fact that we're pretty sure there's no such DNA scanner in the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. Even the tinfoil hat lobby will be distancing themselves from this asinine "theory." Remember it's "up to you to decide" if you believe this, but we have evidence that believing this automatically makes you a lizard person. It's OK if we don't show you any proof. On the internet its okay to just say whatever you want. You can view their wonderfully stupid video below.
Capcom US, Japan's creative relationship with UK's Ninja Theory
DmC: Devil May Cry represents Capcom's focused, intentional effort to add western flair to a traditionally Japanese-styled game, left in the care of UK-entrenched studio Ninja Theory. Both Capcom Japan and US left the westernization entirely in Ninja Theory's hands, only providing advice on the game's core essentials and at times making strong suggestions about characters and controls. Otherwise, Capcom took a hands-off approach to the game's modernization.Among three branches of two studios in three disparate areas of the globe, creating anything successfully – let alone a new, yet familiar game in a popular franchise – was bound to be frustrating. According to Capcom producers Motohide Eshiro and Alex Jones, it certainly was stressful working with Ninja Theory, but it was also successful.Read their thoughts on Ninja Theory and the international DmC development process below.
