Twitter owner Elon Musk recently doubled down on his refusal to allow InfoWars host Alex Jones back on the platform, blaming the broadcaster’s comments about the Sandy Hook shooting for his permanent ban.
The Daily Mail reports that in a recent tweet, Elon Musk stated once again that InfoWars host Alex Jones will never be allowed to return to Twitter, saying that as a parent who himself lost an infant, he has “no mercy” for “anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain.”
Musk recently announced the return of a number of permanently suspended Twitter accounts to the platform, including author Jordan Peterson, left-wing comedian Kathy Griffin and former President Donald Trump. As Breitbart News previously reported, at the same time Musk restored several prominent banned accounts including the Babylon Bee, he also promised to shadowban wrongthink.
Today Elon Musk announced that Twitter’s new policy is “freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach,” then explaining that the platform would be using the same shadowbanning system that has unfairly affected conservatives and has been criticized for years. Musk also announced that the Babylon Bee, Jordan Peterson, and Kathy Griffin had been restored to the platform, but that the “Trump decision has not yet been made.”
Twitter has long been criticized for “shadowbanning” accounts, often those of conservative users. Shadowbanning means that Twitter limits the reach of these accounts, with tweets from the affected account not appearing on followers’ timelines, likes being deleted or hidden, and the visibility of the account negatively affected.
When Musk took over the platform he promised that the platform would be one focused on free speech. Now he’s introduced essentially the exact same system Twitter had before. In a tweet he has since deleted following significant criticism, Musk says that the “new” Twitter policy is “freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach.”
But when pressed about the continued ban of Alex Jones from the platform, Musk stated: “My firstborn child died in my arms. I felt his last heartbeat. I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame.”
Alex Jones (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Two years after marrying his first wife Justine Musk (née Wilson), the couple had a child together, Nevada Alexander was born in 2002 but passed away at just ten weeks old from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Musk’s anger at Jones’ comments relating to the Sandy Hook shooting may be understandable, but once again solidifies that Twitter’s policies have not changed and those allowed back on the platform are only allowed at Musk’s discretion. This is at odds with the “free speech” rhetoric that Musk has previously claimed to champion, as is his recent confirmation that the platform will continue to shadowban people.
Read more at the Daily Mail here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.