Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Apple And Other Social Media Platforms Remove Alex Jones

Apple removed Alex Jones from several of its platforms; Facebook and others followed suit.  Its about time that the social media took some responsibility for providing a megaphone to conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones.  Apple justified its action by claiming that Jones violated its rule about distributing hate mail.  Conservatives reacted as one might expect.  They claimed that the social media violated Jones' right to free speech.  In other words, publishing fake conspiracy theories that have been harmful to others is protected by the Constitution.  That is utter nonsense.  Newspapers and  other media outlets are not required to provide a platform that liars like Jones can use to become rich.  Conservative media like Brietbart News and Fox News are obviously selective about whose views they make available to their  conservative market.  Moreover, only a small subset of conservatives follow Alex Jones.  It makes no sense to view the Jones decision as a battle between conservatives and liberals.  It should make most conservatives happy that they are not defined by predators like Alex Jones.

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