@Dr. John Carpenter I think the war between Trump and most of the media is reaching a critical mass and social media platforms want to be on the winning side. Alex Jones could simply be a casualty of this war.

I agree with you. I find Alex Jones to be completely repugnant. It saddens me that the guy has an audience. But I too get a uncomfortable by the censorship (and that’s what if feels like to me.)

The big question for me though is why now? It’s not like he just slid off the rails. This has always been his MO. It’s not like it’s a secret. Whenever big biz make some coordinated effort like this with no apparent provocation, I’m instantly suspicious. A month ago, this was all fine and dandy. Now it’s now. What changed?

@Dr. John Carpenter his anti-Israel positions?

Could that be it?

I agree with you. I find Alex Jones to be completely repugnant. It saddens me that the guy has an audience. But I too get a uncomfortable by the censorship (and that’s what if feels like to me.)

The big question for me though is why now? It’s not like he just slid off the rails. This has always been his MO. It’s not like it’s a secret. Whenever big biz make some coordinated effort like this with no apparent provocation, I’m instantly suspicious. A month ago, this was all fine and dandy. Now it’s now. What changed?

@edg
"conservative" website, it is a batshit lunatic website. Casting this as "Eebil Librul Media Suppresses Conservatives" makes about as much sense as calling Hillary Clinton a Center-Leftist. There's nothing politically conservative -- not even "right wing" -- about AJ's most whacked out crap, like the Sandy Hook nonsense. Crazy talk is crazy talk, and it's an insult to any sane conservative -- even a really evil one -- to label Infowars as "conservative", just because most of the crazy talk seems to have its roots in right-wing points of view (e.g. 2nd Amendment rights).

ARE TECH GIANTS WORKING TOGETHER TO CENSOR CONSERVATIVES? — Apple, YouTube and Facebook BAN Infowars on Same Day

Some conservatives are noticing. The only remaining question is when will our corporate masters come after us?

@edg Precedent becomes pretext. They'll just have to cut off other sites to be fair and balanced.

ARE TECH GIANTS WORKING TOGETHER TO CENSOR CONSERVATIVES? — Apple, YouTube and Facebook BAN Infowars on Same Day

Some conservatives are noticing. The only remaining question is when will our corporate masters come after us?

@gulfgal98

"I may despise Alex Jones, but I will defend his right to speak freely. And then I can freely decide to ignore him too. The fact that our rights have been outsourced to private corporations and deregulated by what little is left of our so called representative government is far more frightening to me than any of Alex Jones' unhinged rants."

-- gulfgal98

I find Alex Jones repulsive and annoying.

BUT...and this is a very big but. But, when we have corporations now censoring our ability to speak freely and express differing political ideas, however repulsive we may find them, then we are locked into a totalitarian state run by the oligarchs.

I may despise Alex Jones, but I will defend his right to speak freely. And then I can freely decide to ignore him too. The fact that our rights have been outsourced to private corporations and deregulated by what little is left of our so called representative government is far more frightening to me than any of Alex Jones' unhinged rants.

@WoodsDweller sector platform come from? How was it funded?

A classic (pre-internet) newspaper was its own platform. They owned the printing press and hired the paper boys (not sure how newsstands worked).
When we talk about "freedom of the press" we aren't talking about journalism. The press is a machine, a printing press, which is the distribution platform.
The only way to stop a newspaper from distributing their content is with the law, and we have 1st amendment protections for that.
In the 21st century we have people trying to be all modern. They are content creators, and use a private sector distribution platform. They have NO legal protections for their distribution network, other than the EULA written by the platform themselves.
This works great when you're a little guy trying to get started. When you're big enough you need to spend the money to develop your own distribution platform or you are exposed to this crap.
They could, of course, deny you a domain name, though people could still access you directly by IP address (welcome to the dark net). They could even block the IP address, I don't know if you have any legal protections from that. They could wave their hands and say "terrorism" and do whatever they want.
Jones already has a web site. He needs to pay to develop his own video and audio deployment infrastructure. He needs to get eyeballs the old fashioned way, not expect a social media platform to hand them to him.

@WoodsDweller

...for public distribution on the Internet and grow it into a giant, widely used venue. In that scenario, it's likely that Alex Jones would also be using that venue. So, if he were sanctioned/censored by the other big platforms — like Facebook and Youtube, which is essentially Google — Alex Jones would remain relatively unharmed

But when we see all the big platforms dumping him suddenly on the same day, that looks like a conspiracy to harm Jones and his business. An antitrust violation. I imagine the government could bring the case, or Jones could if he had a great deal of money.

I would assume US citizens have no particular constitutional rights or protections relative to the Internet. With the loss of Net Neutrality, that would be a certainty.

Thanks for your answer. It looks like something you know well.

A classic (pre-internet) newspaper was its own platform. They owned the printing press and hired the paper boys (not sure how newsstands worked).
When we talk about "freedom of the press" we aren't talking about journalism. The press is a machine, a printing press, which is the distribution platform.
The only way to stop a newspaper from distributing their content is with the law, and we have 1st amendment protections for that.
In the 21st century we have people trying to be all modern. They are content creators, and use a private sector distribution platform. They have NO legal protections for their distribution network, other than the EULA written by the platform themselves.
This works great when you're a little guy trying to get started. When you're big enough you need to spend the money to develop your own distribution platform or you are exposed to this crap.
They could, of course, deny you a domain name, though people could still access you directly by IP address (welcome to the dark net). They could even block the IP address, I don't know if you have any legal protections from that. They could wave their hands and say "terrorism" and do whatever they want.
Jones already has a web site. He needs to pay to develop his own video and audio deployment infrastructure. He needs to get eyeballs the old fashioned way, not expect a social media platform to hand them to him.

@Raggedy Ann Naked Capitalism, too.

There IS none in the good ole' US of A. Does anyone recall the de-monetization of sites like Jimmy Dore? Calling Truthdig, the Intercept, et. al. fake news? It's already happening on the left - now they're going after the right.

What we need to remember is that there is no left or right - it's who is touting the deep state line.

@Citizen Of Earth People here seem to conveniently forget that dipshits like Alex Jones have had total control of the narrative for the last 40 years. He's just the logical conclusion of decades of dumbing down, environmental destruction and organized theft by the bourgeoisie.

Meanwhile, the same right-wing idiots who cry 'FREEZE PEACH' when one of their own is de-platformed in any shape, form or fashion are quick to cheer as we continue to get fucked a thousand ways from sunday. Free speech is just a buzzword and the god damned piece of paper only protects wealth, not rights.

Their free (hate) speech is allowed to have a website. That's all the free speech it is entitled to -- just like the KKK and other hate groups. No information platform (ie FBook, YouTube, etc ) has an obligation to carry their fake news and hate content on their platform. Good fucking riddance.

Infowars is feeding the stupidity of all the conservative assholes that are too stupid to think for themselves. They feed them conspiracy theories and embolden their racism and xenophobia -- degrading society in the process.