Twitter bans Alex Jones, Infowars from social network | Social

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9/5/18 9:48:18 AM — Washington, DC, U.S.A — Radio show host Alex Jones passionately speaking to the media just outside of the committee room doors where Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook Inc., and Jack Dorsey, chief executive officer of Twitter Inc., testify before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence during a hearing on Foreign Influence Operations’ Use of Social Media Platforms on Sept. 5, 2018 in Washington. — Photo by Jack Gruber, USA TODAY Staff ORG XMIT: JG 137441 Social Media Hea 9/5/ (Via OlyDrop)

Jack Gruber, USA TODAY

Alex Jones has been kicked off of Twitter.

The controversial founder of conspiracy website Infowars was banned from the social network Thursday afternoon. Both Jones’ personal account and that of his website were removed by Twitter.

“Today, we permanently suspended @realalexjones and @infowars from Twitter and Periscope,” Twitter’s official Safety account tweeted. “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.”

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

In a separate tweet, Twitter said that it 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.”

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

According to a Google cache of his now removed Twitter presence, Jones had roughly 896,000 followers while Infowars had over 430,000.

Jones did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by USA TODAY.

The ban comes one day after Jones attended a Capitol Hill hearing featuring Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Clips of Jones at the hearing, including a confrontation with Senator Marco Rubio went viral on the social network.

More: Sen. Marco Rubio to Alex Jones: ‘I’ll take care of you myself’

Jones and his shows have already been banned by Apple, Facebook, Spotify and YouTube for hate speech.

Follow Eli Blumenthal on Twitter @eliblumenthal