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As our nation looks forward to turning the page into a new era following the clear mandate for freedom in the recent election, the existing regime is not going quietly into the night.
Alex Jones’ Infowars has allegedly been acquired by the satire site the Onion in a court-ordered bankruptcy auction. Developments on Friday have cast doubt on the legitimacy of this acquisition, however.
Thanks to X, he moved studios and was able to immediately start broadcasting again.
On Thursday, there were reports that the Onion had acquired Alex Jones’ Infowars. By late Friday morning, Alex Jones released a statement alleging that the auction for his assets was fake and that there is now an ongoing criminal investigation into the proceedings. Infowars.com is once again live after being taken down from Thursday into Friday morning.
According to
BBC News, the Onion bought Infowars with the support of the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, who won a $1.5 billion defamation lawsuit over Jones’ claims surrounding the school shooting. Financial details have not been disclosed.
Ben Collins, the CEO of the Onion, is
reported to have said, “The Onion has a long history of helping the American public navigate some of the most difficult moments in American life, from our historic issue after 9/11 to our groundbreaking reportage after every American mass shooting. In that tradition, we hope the Sandy Hook families will be able to marvel at the cosmic joke we will soon make of Infowars.com.”
On X, Collins
posted, “We’re planning on making a very stupid website.”
Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization, will
reportedly be “the exclusive launch advertiser for the site in the new venture.” John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown for Gun Safety, said, “It’s fitting that a platform once used to profit off of tragedy will be a tool of education, hence our multiyear advertising commitment to this new venture.”
He went on: “We’re proud to be a part of what comes next, not only in terms of staunching the flow of hurtful misinformation, but also for the potential this new venture has to help Everytown reach new audiences ready to hold the gun industry accountable for contributing to our nation’s gun violence epidemic.”
It is almost poetic that a gun control organization is partnering with the Onion in this attack on free speech. The First Amendment was listed first for a reason, yet the Second Amendment is listed immediately afterward as a fail-safe in the event of egregious violations of the First Amendment. Keeping that in mind, the fight for the First Amendment is not over.
Alex Jones posted a video
update on his X account, saying, “This is a total attack on free speech.” He also said, “They want to silence the American people, but we’re not gonna be silenced.” He then directed his viewers to follow the Alex Jones Network on X, where he will continue to speak out against what is happening to Infowars.
However, Jones
posted later in the day Thursday that the auction was not legitimate: “Infowars was not sold to the The Onion. I am breaking the news now.” According to the Independent, the judge involved in the case, District Judge Christopher Lopez, said, “No one should feel comfortable with the results of this auction.”
Since this news story broke, it was revealed that the auction’s process was questionable and is now under review. As the Independent reports, bidders were required to submit their best offers, yet the amounts of these offers were not disclosed. “The trustee who ran the auction said the total amount was a better deal overall but came in under First United American’s [Alex Jones’ proxy] $3.5 million offer.”
Therefore, the auction results are paused. The judge explained the next steps in this case: “We’re all going to an evidentiary hearing, and I’m going to figure out exactly what happened.” He added: “I personally don’t care who wins the auction. … I care about process and transparency.”
The shadiness of these developments in this story seem to confirm the true motivations behind this acquisition. Many opponents of Alex Jones take issue with him being able to speak at all, it seems. For example, an NBC anchor discussing the acquisition
said, “His X account will remain — for now, at least.” While this reporter is not related to the case, it seems to be implied that the main issue is not the legal acquisition of Infowars as an asset in the defamation case but rather Alex Jones’ ability to speak out on a platform at all.
Today, Alex Jones called “The Glenn Beck Program” to break down some of the latest developments. Jones alleges the court is trying to prevent him from broadcasting in the future. He also alleges to Beck that there was a secret sale to subvert the auction and alleges a deep state plot to take him off the air forever.
The social media landscape has completely changed the idea of a platform, which means that even the most vindictive attacks on a well-established platform are somewhat ineffective. While the defamation lawsuit and the subsequent auction for Jones’ assets were a blow to Jones’ image and security, his ability to continue speaking freely is relatively unchanged. Thanks to X, he moved studios and was able to start broadcasting again immediately.
Now, the relative ease that Jones had in moving his platform and broadcast will reveal something very interesting in our political landscape going forward. Anyone who has a problem with this fact is fundamentally opposed to free speech. Free speech and the First Amendment are the first bulwarks against tyranny.
This is a developing story that will be updated.