But despite his legion of loyal followers, Jones has faced bankruptcy and had to backtrack on some claims – in particular, his theory that the Sandy Hook mass school shooting was staged by the US government.
Here is why Jones still makes headlines.
How Alex Jones made a comeback thanks to Elon Musk
In December, one of the richest men in the world, Elon Musk, posted a poll on X (formerly Twitter) where he asked users if Jones should be allowed to return to the platform. According to Al Jazeera, Jones, 50, had his X profile permanently banned five years ago after he repeatedly violated the platform’s abusive behaviour policy. Two million people responded to Musk’s poll, with most voting that Jones should be allowed back.However, Musk has been criticised in the past for utilising X’s polls feature to inform important decisions. In November 2022, The Washington Post published a column titled “Hey, Elon Musk? Twitter polls are not the ‘voice of the people’”, which stated, “[X poll voters are] a self-selected group that is aware of the poll being conducted. They are also very possibly automated accounts.”
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Musk has been vocal about how he considers himself a freedom-of-speech absolutist – which appears to extend to misinformation and hate speech, according to reports regarding his running of X – which probably motivated his decision to bring Jones back.
Jones reintroduced himself with a video promoting a discussion he allegedly had with Musk and controversial influencer Andrew Tate, who was charged with human trafficking, rape and organised crime in September 2023, per Sky News. Jones has over 2.1 million followers on the platform, at the time of writing.
The false claims that Alex Jones spread about the Sandy Hook school shooting
In 2012, 20 students and six staff were killed by a shooter in the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, US. For years, Jones spread the false claim that the school shooting was not real and was actually a plan by the US government to seize weapons, with actors being used as the victims.
Jones was later sued by some of the victims’ families and a court ordered him to pay US$1.5 billion in damages. He filed for bankruptcy in 2022. In December 2023, he proposed he pay US$55 million to the families instead, per CNN.
According to Reuters, in January, a judge ruled that Jones could solicit votes from families on whether to accept his renewed settlement proposal, which would see them get a fraction of what they are owed. His proposal would also mean he could pay the money over a period of time.
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Alex Jones’ luxury lifestyle
Jones has been accused of living an extravagant life despite filing for bankruptcy. In September last year, statements from his bank accounts showed his living costs to be around US$93,000 in the month of July. Per Bloomberg, these costs included housekeeping, maintenance of his holiday lake house, meals and entertainment.
Jones and his legal team slammed the reports about the costs, saying they had been distorted.
What is InfoWars, the website that Alex Jones founded?
Established in 1999, InfoWars is a website that hosts videos, podcasts and articles which claim to “promote a pro human future worldwide”. His Austin, Texas-based radio show is also broadcasted on about 100 radio stations nationwide, per the Anti-Defamation League.
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Jones uses his platforms to continue spreading his conspiracy theories. In January 2020, he was a major driving force behind speculation that a gun rally in Richmond, Virginia would turn violent, when he claimed that government enforcement would confiscate weapons.
In 2020, New York attorney general Letitia James issued Jones with a cease-and-desist order over the sale of products on his website that he claimed would prevent and cure Covid-19.
His other notable conspiracy theories claim that autism is a result of vaccines and that 9/11 was an act by the US government.
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