Twitter permanently banned right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars show for abusive behavior, a day after its CEO Jack Dorsey testified before Congress about alleged bias against conservatives on the platform.
The company said Mr. Jones won’t be able to create new accounts on Twitter or take over any existing ones. In a tweet, it said it would continue to monitor reports about other accounts potentially associated with Jones or Infowars, and will “take action” if it finds any attempts to circumvent the ban.
Twitter said Mr. Jones posted a video on Wednesday that violates the company’s policy against “abusive behaviour.” That video showed Jones berating CNN journalist Oliver Darcy for some 10 minutes in between two congressional hearings on social media. Mr. Dorsey testified at both hearings, but did not appear to witness the confrontation.
Mr. Jones had about 900,000 followers on Twitter. Infowars had about 430,000. Mr. Jones did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
New Jersey Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone praised Twitter’s action in a tweet. “Tweets designed to threaten, belittle, demean and silence individuals have no place on this platform,” he tweeted
Other tech companies have limited Mr. Jones by suspending him for longer periods, as Facebook did, and by taking down his pages and radio stations.
Mr. Jones is currently active on Facebook; his personal suspension there recently expired. Apple, YouTube and Spotify also permanently removed material Mr. Jones had published.
