I have mixed feelings on Alex Jones. I wouldn’t classify myself as a hater, but neither would I call myself a fan. I consider him an entertaining icon, but one of the most prolific purveyors of disinformation. In the video below, Ben Swann and I discuss the true meaning behind disinformation: incorrect, exaggerated bullshit that discredits the truth.
But regardless of my feelings for Alex Jones, the fact that he has to pay 50 million dollars in damages to the families of the Sandy Hook victims is absolutely insane, and is a bigger threat to free speech than Nina Jankowicz or the Misinformation Board could ever have dreamed to be.
I myself am not a fan of defamation suits in general. At least for millions of dollars. I think they provide a slippery slope of not allowing people to air skepticisms or to muse of possibilities that others may find offensive. At times, this opinion can be extremely unpopular, but I even aired this grievance when I was on Tulsi’s campaign when she threatened Hillary Clinton with a 50 million dollar defamation lawsuit for claiming that she was being groomed by the Russians.
Thankfully this got thrown out of court, but think of the precedent this would have set if Tulsi had actually succeeded in suing her. Hillary didn’t even mention her by name, and did not make a formal accusation but an off-handed remark in an interview. Imagine if Barack Obama had stooped so low as to sue Trump for claiming he wasn’t an American citizen, or if Rand Paul had sued John McCain for the multiple times he had directly called him a Putin puppet on the Senate floor.
If we are not allowed to ask questions or make assertions about controversial topics, freedom of speech is dead. Sandy Hook was an absolutely horrific tragedy, but is that the bar for when questions and skepticism is off limits? What about the Iraq War? The War in Afghanistan? Vietnam? Hundreds of thousands of soldiers gave their lives for a cause that they were lied into believing. Because of those tragic deaths are we now not allowed to raise questions? What about Covid vaccines? Lockdowns? Mask mandates? People died from Covid, does that limit our skepticism on the issue?
As I mentioned earlier, I consider Alex to be one of the biggest hindrances to finding the truth behind many subjects including 9/11, Epstein, and the true “New World Order” as George H W Bush described it. By hyperbolizing true events into a ridiculous fantasies, he has turned millions away from the truth and made many a sane individual averse to questioning the official narrative. But censoring him and suing him ultimately does nothing but substantiate him.
Alex Jones thrives off of cancelation, and this will do nothing but bolster his image. But that aside, think of who will be next. Alex Jones was one of the first to be deplatformed, now he is one of the first to be sued, do you really think people like you and me can’t be next?
I share the same sentiment on the topic. They just made an example out of him and will certainly come for other notable dissenting voices and eventually regular every day people.
Part of me thinks this was the plan all along. Use people like him to create a precedent for reducing first amendment protections. The real question, based on how over the top he is: was AJ in on it the whole time?