InfoWars

InfoWars
Type of site
Available inEnglish
OwnerAlex Jones (via Free Speech Systems LLC)
URLinfowars.com
RegistrationNone
LaunchedMarch 6, 1999 (1999-03-06)[4]
Current statusActive

InfoWars is an American far-right[2] conspiracy theory[3] and fake news website[1] owned by Alex Jones.[36][37] It was founded in 1999, and operates under Free Speech Systems LLC.[38]

Talk shows and other content for the site are created primarily in studios at an undisclosed location in an industrial area in the outskirts of Austin, Texas.[39] Reports in 2017 stated that the InfoWars website received approximately 10 million monthly visits, making its reach greater than some mainstream news websites such as The Economist and Newsweek at the time.[40][41]

The site has regularly published fake stories which have been linked to harassment of victims.[48] In February 2018, Jones, the publisher, director and owner of InfoWars, was accused of discrimination and sexually harassing employees.[49] InfoWars, and in particular Jones, advocate numerous conspiracy theories, particularly around purported domestic false flag operations by the U.S. government (which they allege include the 9/11 attacks and Sandy Hook shootings). InfoWars has issued retractions various times as a result of legal challenges.[44][45] Jones has had contentious material removed, and has also been suspended and banned from many platforms for violating their terms of service, including Facebook,[50] Twitter,[51] YouTube,[52] iTunes,[53] and Roku.[54]

InfoWars earns revenue from the sale of products pitched by Jones during the show, including dietary supplements. It has been called as much "an online store that uses Mr. Jones's commentary to move merchandise" as a media outlet.[55]

On July 30, 2022, amidst a $150 million lawsuit brought against Jones and InfoWars by Sandy Hook families, Free Speech Systems filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[56] On June 23, 2024, a bankruptcy court-appointed trustee requested an emergency stay to sell, shut down and liquidate InfoWars.[57] On September 24, a Houston bankruptcy judge ordered the liquidation of InfoWars and its parent company Free Speech Systems at two auctions to be held later in 2024.[58][59]

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  6. ^ a b Chong, Miyoung (January 1, 2019). "Discovering fake news embedded in the opposing hashtag activism networks on Twitter: #Gunreformnow vs. #NRA". Open Information Science. 3 (1). De Gruyter: 147, 150. doi:10.1515/opis-2019-0010.
  7. ^ a b c Zeng, Jing; Schäfer, Mike S. (October 21, 2021). "Conceptualizing "Dark Platforms". Covid-19-Related Conspiracy Theories on 8kun and Gab". Digital Journalism. 9 (9). Routledge: 1321–1343. doi:10.1080/21670811.2021.1938165. In contrast, Gab users who shared more far-right "fake news" websites are relatively more visible on Gab. Some of the most cited sources under this category include the Unhived Mind (N = 2,729), Epoch Times (N = 1,303), Natural News (N = 1,301), Breitbart (N = 769), the Gateway Pundit (N = 422), and InfoWars (N = 656).
  8. ^ Guglielmi, Giorgia (October 28, 2020). "The next-generation bots interfering with the US election". Nature. 587 (7832): 21. Bibcode:2020Natur.587...21G. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-03034-5. PMID 33116324. S2CID 226052075.
  9. ^ Duvall, Spring-Serenity (July 2020). "Too Famous to Protest: Far-Right Online Community Bonding Over Collective Desecration of Colin Kaepernick, Fame, and Celebrity Activism". Journal of Communication Inquiry. 44 (3). SAGE Publishing: 256–278. doi:10.1177/0196859920911650. S2CID 216264888.
  10. ^ Mudde, Cas (October 25, 2019). The Far Right Today. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-5095-3685-6. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  11. ^ a b Kaiser, Jonas (September 17, 2019). "In the heartland of climate scepticism: A hyperlink network analysis of German climate sceptics and the US right wing". In Forchtner, Bernard (ed.). The Far Right and the Environment: Politics, Discourse and Communication. Routledge. p. 258. ISBN 978-1-351-10402-9.
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  13. ^ Hafner, Josh (May 24, 2018). "Sandy Hook families suing Alex Jones aren't the only ones to threaten conspiracy theorist". USA Today. Archived from the original on September 29, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  14. ^ a b Murphy, Paul P. (March 3, 2018). "Advertisers flee InfoWars founder Alex Jones' YouTube channel". CNN Business. Archived from the original on June 13, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  15. ^ Lima, Cristiano (March 13, 2018). "InfoWars, Alex Jones sued for defamation over Charlottesville claims". Politico. Archived from the original on August 7, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  16. ^ Eagan, Margery (June 4, 2018). "Families of Sandy Hook victims could force Alex Jones to admit his outrageous lie". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  17. ^ Kelly, Erin (July 17, 2018). "Republicans press social media giants on anti-conservative 'bias' that Dems call 'nonsense'". USA Today. Archived from the original on March 29, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  18. ^ Morrin, Siobhan (May 29, 2018). "Why Tommy Robinson Was Jailed, and Why U.S. Rightwingers Care". Time. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
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  20. ^ Rehman, Iskander (October 2, 2017). "Rise of the Reactionaries: The American Far Right and U.S. Foreign Policy". The Washington Quarterly. 40 (4). Taylor & Francis: 33. doi:10.1080/0163660X.2017.1406706. S2CID 158799930.
  21. ^ Winter, Aaron (2019). "Online Hate: From the Far-Right to the 'Alt-Right' and from the Margins to the Mainstream" (PDF). Online Othering. Springer International Publishing. pp. 39–63. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-12633-9_2. ISBN 978-3-030-12632-2. S2CID 159264406. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2020 – via ResearchGate.
  22. ^ a b "Trump slams tech firms at 'free speech' social media summit". Deutsche Welle. December 7, 2019. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  23. ^ Shantz, Jeff (2016). Manufacturing Phobias: The Political Production of Fear in Theory and Practice. University of Toronto Press. p. 231. ISBN 978-1-4426-2884-7. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2020 – via Google Books.
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  27. ^ Sacks, Brianna (December 12, 2019). "The Infowars News Director Said He's "Proud" The Site Called The Sandy Hook Shooting A Hoax". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on April 19, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  28. ^ Wilhelm, Heather (December 15, 2017). "The Lost Art of Privacy". National Review. Archived from the original on December 27, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
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  32. ^ Nover, Scott (November 9, 2018). "The Legal Precedent That Could Protect Jim Acosta's Credentials". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on June 24, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  33. ^ Jenkins, Aric (March 25, 2017). "InfoWars' Alex Jones Apologized for His 'Pizzagate' Coverage. He Blamed Other Media for It". Fortune. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
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  35. ^ Owen, Laura Hazard (October 26, 2020). "Older people and Republicans are most likely to share Covid-19 stories from fake news sites on Twitter". Nieman Lab. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
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  38. ^ "Free Speech Systems LLC". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on June 30, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  39. ^ "A Visit to the InfoWars Studios of Alex Jones". Der Spiegel. December 31, 2017. Archived from the original on August 19, 2017. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  40. ^ "Infowars.com Audience Insights". quantcast.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  41. ^ "Alex Jones, Pizzagate booster and America's most famous conspiracy theorist, explained". Vox. Archived from the original on December 10, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  42. ^ Cite error: The named reference vox was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  43. ^ Cite error: The named reference nydailynews was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  44. ^ a b Wattles, Jackie (May 17, 2017). "InfoWars' Alex Jones apologizes for saying Chobani supports 'migrant rapists'". CNNMoney. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  45. ^ a b Montero, David (May 17, 2017). "Alex Jones settles Chobani lawsuit and retracts comments about refugees in Twin Falls, Idaho". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  46. ^ Cite error: The named reference cbs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  47. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  48. ^ [42][43][44][45][46][47]
  49. ^ Pink, Aiden (March 1, 2018). "Alex Jones Accused Of Anti-Semitism, Sexual Harassment". The Forward. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  50. ^ "Alex Jones slammed with 30-day ban from Facebook for hateful videos [Update]". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on July 28, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  51. ^ "Twitter permanently bans Alex Jones and Infowars". CBS News. September 6, 2018. Archived from the original on September 7, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  52. ^ "YouTube removes 'hate speech' videos from InfoWars" Archived July 26, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. BBC News.
  53. ^ Riley, Charles (August 6, 2018). "YouTube, Apple and Facebook remove content from InfoWars and Alex Jones". CNN Money. Archived from the original on August 6, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  54. ^ "Roku U-turn over streaming Alex Jones's InfoWars". BBC News. January 16, 2019. Archived from the original on January 16, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  55. ^ Williamson, Elizabeth; Steel, Emily (September 7, 2018). "Conspiracy Theories Made Alex Jones Very Rich. They May Bring Him Down". The New York Times. The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 8, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  56. ^ Melhado, William (July 30, 2022). "Alex Jones' company files for bankruptcy midway through Sandy Hook damages trial". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  57. ^ Gold, Hadas (June 24, 2024). "Alex Jones' court trustee plans to shut down his notorious conspiracy outlet Infowars". CNN. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  58. ^ Cite error: The named reference NBC-liquidation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  59. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT-liquidation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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