This past Saturday Elon Musk put out a poll asking users of X (formerly Twitter) if Alex Jones should be reinstated on the platform after his permanent suspension back in 2018. With almost two million votes, the majority (70.1%) of participants voted in favor of Jones returning, resulting in both his personal account and the account of his network, Infowars, being reinstated Sunday.
After Musk’s initial takeover of Twitter in October of 2023, many notable journalists, doctors, and commentators, who were previously banned for pushing back against official government narratives, were reinstated. Despite this, Musk initially pushed back on the reinstatement of Jones after disagreeing with his comments surrounding the devastating Sandy Hook shooting.
After over a year of X users continuously calling for the reinstatement of Jones, Musk put out a poll Saturday that garnered almost two million votes regarding whether or not Jones should be allowed back on the platform.
The poll closed with over 70 percent of respondents voting in favor of Jones being reinstated, resulting in his personal account being reactivated on Sunday morning. Alongside the reinstatement of Jones’ personal account, the account of his previously suspended co-host, Owen Shroyer, and the official account of his network, Infowars, was also reinstated.
Many are calling this a huge win for free speech after leftist activists worked relentlessly to get Jones and his network banned from multiple social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X (then-Twitter) back in 2018. During August of 2018, Jones was removed from YouTube, Facebook, and Apple Podcasts on the same day for what the platforms deemed “dangerous conspiracy theories.”
One month later, X followed suit and banned Jones, for what they deemed “abusive behavior.” Jones posted a video making fun of then-CNN reporter, Oliver Darcy, during congressional hearings on bias against conservatives on social media resulting in X taking down his entire account.
Jones was the first major political commentator suspended by major social media platforms, a move that ultimately led to the silencing of other voices who began exposing the lies coming from the U.S. government and media establishments.
Even licensed medical professionals were silenced for pushing back against the government’s official narrative on COVID-19, while even lawyers, journalists, and professors found themselves on “Twitter’s Blacklist” for what the social media site’s former owners deemed “misinformation.”
Just a few years ago, almost every social media platform had a monopoly on the average American’s freedom of information; however, the reinstatement of Jones is just a further example of Elon Musk’s commitment to free speech and the ability of the American people to share and access information.
