InfoWars
InfoWars (stylized INFOWARS) is an American far-right conspiracy theory and fake news website owned by Alex Jones. It was founded in 1999, and operates under Free Speech Systems LLC.
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Background edit
InfoWars was created in 1999 by American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who remains its controlling influence. InfoWars features The Alex Jones Show on their broadcasts and was established as a public-access television program aired in Austin, Texas in 1999.
Talk shows and other content for the site are created primarily in studios at an undisclosed location in an industrial area in the outskirts of Austin, Texas. The InfoWars website receives approximately 10 million monthly visits, making its reach greater than some mainstream news websites such as The Economist and Newsweek.
The site has regularly published fake stories which have been linked to harassment of victims. In February 2018, Jones, the publisher, director and owner of InfoWars, was accused of discrimination and sexually harassing employees. InfoWars, and in particular Jones, advocate numerous conspiracy theories particularly around purported domestic false flag operations by the U.S. government (which they allege include the 9/11 and Sandy Hook shootings). InfoWars has issued retractions various times as a result of legal challenges. Jones has had contentious material removed, and has also been suspended and banned from many platforms for violating their terms of service, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, iTunes, and Roku.
InfoWars earns revenue from the sale of products pitched by Jones during the show, including dietary supplements. It has been called as much "an online store that uses Mr. Jones's commentary to move merchandise" as a media outlet.
InfoWars promoted fabricated Pizzagate claims. The fake claims led to harassment of the owner and employees of Comet Ping Pong, a Washington, D.C. pizzeria targeted by the conspiracy theories, including threatening phone calls, online harassment, death threats, and an attempted mass shooting at the restaurant by a man named Edgar Maddison Welch on December 4, 2016. The owner sent a letter to Jones in February 2017 demanding a retraction or apology.
During the 2016 presidential election, the website was promoted by bots connected to the Russian government. A 2017 study by the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University found that InfoWars was the 13th most shared source by supporters of Donald Trump on Twitter during the election.
In June 2017, it was announced that Roger Stone, a former campaign advisor for Donald Trump, would be hosting his own InfoWars show "five nights a week", with an extra studio being built to accommodate his show.
In July 2018, YouTube removed four of InfoWars's uploaded videos that violated its policy against hate speech and suspended posts for 90 days. Facebook also banned Jones after it determined four videos on his pages violated its community standards in July 2018. In August 2018, YouTube, Apple, and Facebook removed content from Jones and InfoWars, citing their policies against hate speech and harassment, as it was against those policy.
In April 2022, InfoWars has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid Alex Jones receiving multiple defamation lawsuits.