Alex Jones/YouTube
- Twitter has "permanently suspended" notorious talk-show host Alex Jones.
- The move comes after Jones berated a CNN reporter to his face and streamed the confrontation using Twitter's Periscope service.
- Twitter is only the latest tech company to ban Jones.
Twitter has belatedly given the boot to Alex Jones.
The social-networking company on Thursday announced that it has "permanently suspended" the right-wing talk-show host and his "Infowars" show from both its main service and its Periscope video streaming service. The move was in response to tweets and videos he posted on Wednesday, Twitter said in a series of tweets.
"We took this action based on new reports of Tweets and videos posted yesterday that violate our abusive behavior policy, in addition to the accounts' past violations," the company said.
The suspension was reportedly in response to Alex Jones' confrontation with CNN's Oliver Darcy on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Jones was in the capitol attending a hearing in which Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testified. While there, he berated Darcy to his face and reportedly told him that he had "the eyes of a rat."
Twitter representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Twitter is only the latest tech company to ban Jones and Infowars from its service. Last month, Apple, Facebook, Spotify, and YouTube removed Jones and Infowars' podcasts, videos, and promotional pages from their services, citing rules against hate speech.
Jones is infamous for promoting conspiracy theories including that the parents of the children killed in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School made up their stories.
The ban comes after Dorsey was grilled by congressional Republicans over his service's supposed bias against conservatives.
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Today, we permanently suspended @realalexjones and @infowars from Twitter and Periscope. We took this action based on new reports of Tweets and videos posted yesterday that violate our abusive behavior policy, in addition to the accounts' past violations. https://t.co/gckzUAV8GL
- Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) September 6, 2018
As we continue to increase transparency around our rules and enforcement actions, we wanted to be open about this action given the broad interest in this case. We do not typically comment on enforcement actions we take against individual accounts, for their privacy.
- Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) September 6, 2018
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 Safety (@TwitterSafety) September 6, 2018