Elon Musk reinstated the account of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. This comes five years after Jones was banned from the site, and coincides with the 11-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook mass shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead in 2012. Jones and his platform Infowars have spread false information about the shooting, including claims that it was a hoax and staged, leading to lawsuits from the families of victims for defamation. Jones was banned from X in 2018 for “abusive behavior,” with the ban believed to be permanent until Musk took over the platform in 2022. Despite previously stating he would keep the ban in place, Musk began toying with the idea of reinstating Jones’ account and held a poll on the matter, with over 70% of voters in favor of reinstatement. On Sunday morning, Musk confirmed he would reinstate Jones’ account, but as of then, the Infowars account on X remained banned. The families of Sandy Hook victims have faced harassment and threats from believers of Jones’ false claims, making the reinstatement of his account contentious.
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