Elon Musk reopened on Sunday the account opponents of firearms.
The boss of the X network posted a survey late Saturday morning on his account: “Reinstate Alex Jones on this platform? Vox Populi, Vox Dei (the voice of the people is the voice of God, Editor’s note).”
Alex Jones is notably known for having claimed that the Sandy Hook school shooting, during which 20 children and six adults were killed in 2012, was only a staged event.
Nearly two million users responded to the survey and the “yes” won by 70.1%: “The people have spoken and this is how it must be”, decided, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, the billionaire, who defends a radical approach to freedom of expression.
Sunday morning, Alex Jones’ account was visible again, noted an AFP journalist.
He reposted a welcome tweet from American-British masculinist influencer Andrew Tate – under judicial supervision in Romania awaiting trial for human trafficking.
He is also expected to speak for two hours during an interview on the social network on Sunday afternoon, according to a tweet from businessman Mario Nawfal: “Be ready for a hot moment with the big comeback on X d ‘Alex Jones.’
His previous post dated September 6, 2018, the date on which the social network announced the permanent suspension of its accounts, after the broadcast of messages and videos considered to violate the social network’s regulations.
Elon Musk bought Twitter in October 2022, renamed X, which has since seen a relaxation of the rules on disinformation, the reduction of content moderation teams and the return of many controversial personalities. Several associations have noted an increase in misinformation and harassment.
Alex Jones had claimed that the shooting at the Sandy Hook school in Newton, Connecticut, was a staging by opponents of firearms, and the grieving parents of the “actors”. His theory had spread on the internet and several relatives of the victims had filed a complaint for defamation, explaining that they had been harassed by admirers of Alex Jones.
He was ordered in 2022 to pay nearly $1.5 billion in fines or damages, and then declared personal bankruptcy, a few months after having already filed for bankruptcy for his company Free Speech Systems.
It was also on his Infowars site that rapper Kanye West praised Adolf Hitler in December 2022.