Biodun.BBC: Alex Jones

Monday, August 6, 2018

Apple and Facebook delete content of US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones

06 August 2018 - 20H46 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Tamara Kachelmeier and Biodun Iginla, France24 Technology reporters, New York

© GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP | Alex Jones (L), of Infowars, and Roger Stone, former Donald Trump advisor, debate with Jonathan Alter during an episode of Alter Family Politics during the 2016 election campaign -- Facebook has removed several of Jones' online pages from its platform, accusing him of "glorifying violence."

NEW YORK -

Apple on Monday deleted several podcasts of the far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, while Facebook removed four of his online pages which the social media platform accused of "glorifying violence."

Jones, whose site InfoWars has accused victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting of being "actors" in a plot to discredit the gun lobby, had violated Facebook's hate speech policies, the social network said.

Facebook said the pages were taken down for "glorifying violence, which violates our graphic violence policy, and using dehumanizing language to describe people who are transgender, Muslims and immigrants, which violates our hate speech policies."

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Gunman Adam Lanza killed 26 people, including 20 children, when he launched his rampage in the Connecticut school. Jones has repeatedly claimed the massacre was a hoax and that the parents of the murdered first-graders were actors, an accusation that has sparked death threats against some of the bereaved mothers and fathers.

Several of the families have sued the 44-year-old Texan, accusing him of using their suffering to expand his audience. Jones has counter-sued, demanding in turn that they pay his court costs.

Among the conspiracy theories Jones has peddled are charges that the US government was behind numerous terrorist attacks, including the September 11, 2001 strikes on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Several days ago, Facebook removed four videos Jones posted that the group said violated its policy on hate speech. Jones responded by posting more content on other pages, prompting the social media giant to suspend his four main pages.

Facebook stressed that it was the violent language used by Jones, rather than his conspiracy theories, that prompted the move.

For its part, Apple removed most of Jones' podcasts, France24 confirmed, after the action was initially reported by Buzzfeed news..

"Apple does not tolerate hate speech, and we have clear guidelines that creators and developers must follow to ensure we provide a safe environment for all of our users," an Apple spokesman told Buzzfeed.

At the end of July, Youtube took down videos posted by Jones and suspended him for 90 days, although his Youtube channel remains accessible on the online video platform.

"The establishment is making its move against free speech here in America," said Jones afterwards.

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Image copyrightREUTERS

by Tamara Kachelmeier and Biodun Iginla, BBC News Technology reporters, San Francisco

Facebook says it will not remove fake news from its platform because it does not violate its community standards.

The social network is currently running an advertising campaign in the UK that declares "fake news is not our friend".

But it said publishers often had "very different points of view" and removing fabricated posts would be "contrary to the basic principles of free speech".

Instead, it says posts that it deems to be fake news will be "demoted" in the news feed.

Facebook has been scrutinised for its role in spreading fake news after evidence emerged that Russia tried to influence US voters using the social network.

On Wednesday, the company held an event in New York where it sought to convince journalists it was tackling the problem.

CNN reporter Oliver Darcy asked how the company could claim to be tackling the spread of misinformation when it allowed the InfoWars page to remain on the platform.

InfoWars produces live talk shows online and has more than 900,000 followers on Facebook. Its primary host, Alex Jones, has more than 2.4 million subscribers on YouTube.

However, the platform has pushed demonstrably false information, such as the conspiracy theory that the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012 was faked by the US government.

Responding to CNN, Facebook's John Hegeman said: "We created Facebook to be a place where different people can have a voice."

The company said it would not remove fake news that did not break its rules but would down-rank content that had been marked as false.

"We allow people to post it as a form of expression, but we're not going to show it at the top of News Feed," a spokeswoman told CNN.

The site had trialled displaying a red warning icon next to articles that fact checkers had identified as false, but later said it found this approach had "entrenched deeply held beliefs".

Facebook's Sara Su told reporters on Wednesday that fake news and conspiracy theories "can be really problematic and it bugs me, too".

But InfoWars contributor Paul Watson suggested CNN was "lobbying a company to shut down a smaller competitor".