Infowars Got Banned by Facebook, So Trump Just Gave It a Huge Boost

Test ticker

Support Mother Jones this Giving Tuesday

Did you know Giving Tuesday got started, back in 2012, explicitly to fight against the commercial corruption of Thanksgiving with its Black Friday and Cyber Monday? That’s awesome! And what better way to mark the day than with a Giving Tuesday donation to Mother Jones that will help fight corruption of all sorts, day in and day out. Our finances are rough right now and we could really use a Giving Tuesday boost. Please help us make the most of this heightened day of giving if you can right now.

Did you know Giving Tuesday got started, back in 2012, explicitly to fight against the commercial corruption of Thanksgiving? That’s awesome! And what better way to mark the day than with a donation to Mother Jones that will help fight corruption of all sorts, day in and day out. Our finances are rough right now and we could really use a Giving Tuesday boost if you can help today.

Infowars founder Alex Jones was banned from Facebook and Instagram this week.Jose Luis Magana/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

President Donald Trump wants you to know just what he thinks about Facebook’s decision to ban extremist media figures from its platforms.

On Thursday, the social media giant announced that it would no longer permit content from Infowars—which for years has propagated conspiracy theories on topics ranging from 9/11 to the Sandy Hook massacre—to be shared on Facebook or Instagram, which Facebook owns. Facebook also announced that it was banning accounts run by Infowars founder Alex Jones; Paul Joseph Watson, Infowars’ former editor at large; and others Facebook views as “dangerous actors.” Watson has a long history of promoting falsehoods and conspiracy theories and posting hate-filled videos with titles like “Why Are Feminists Fat & Ugly?”

Trump, who has long insisted—without evidence—that social media companies are biased against conservatives, wasn’t happy about Facebook’s actions. On Friday, he branded Watson a “conservative thinker” and tweeted that he was “surprised” to see him banned from Facebook. Then on Saturday, Trump retweeted two of Watson’s tweets.

The support for me has been incredible. This could actually lead to some genuine change. Keep up the pressure. Don't let it rest.

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) May 4, 2019

“Dangerous”.

My opinions?

Or giving a handful of giant partisan corporations the power to decide who has free speech?

You decide.https://t.co/cTCoLs0Op2

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) May 2, 2019

Trump then followed that up by sharing an Infowars video featuring black Trump supporters singing the president’s praises.

So great to watch this! https://t.co/pYoiLjM0pz

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2019

This isn’t the first time Trump has supported Infowars. During the 2016 presidential election, he called in to Jones’ radio show and gave a 30-minute interview. “Your reputation is amazing,” Trump told Jones. After the election, Trump called Jones to thank him for his support, according to Jones, who recounted the conversation in a video he later released on Infowars.