Elon Musk says X will reinstate Alex Jones’s account after poll of users

Rightwing conspiracy theorist was banned from platform in 2018, but could be back after 2m votes cast

The social media platform X will reinstate the account of the US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones after a poll of the site’s users backed his return, its owner, Elon Musk, has said.

“The people have spoken and so it shall be,” Musk posted in reply to a poll on Saturday on whether to reinstate the Jones account. Close to 2m votes were cast by the time the poll closed, with about 70% voting in favour of Jones’s return.

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Elon Musk hurls defiant, profanity-laced retort at fleeing advertisers

At New York event Wednesday, X owner had choice words for Walt Disney and others who pulled ads over antisemitic content

Elon Musk has issued a defiant and profanity-laced message for the advertisers who pulled money from X in recent weeks amid a backlash over his endorsement of an antisemitic tweet and reports of increased hate speech on the platform.

Video of the interview, which was widely circulated, showed that Musk said, “Don’t advertise,” on Wednesday during an on-stage interview at an event in New York. “If someone’s going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go fuck yourself.”

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Elon Musk visits scene of kibbutz massacre with Benjamin Netanyahu

Pair speak about Gaza conflict but not online antisemitism nor controversial post made by X owner this month

Elon Musk has joined the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in visiting a kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas on 7 October, after criticism of his endorsement of an antisemitic post on X.

The owner of X, the site formerly known as Twitter, has been criticised for supporting a post on his platform that falsely claimed Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people. High-profile advertisers have also suspended spending on the site after a report that ads were appearing next to pro-Nazi content.

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‘Serious breach’: social media platform X booted from Australia’s misinformation code

Company failed to respond to a complaint about the removal of a function to report misinformation during the voice referendum

X [formerly know as Twitter] has been kicked out of Australia’s voluntary misinformation and disinformation code, after failing to respond to a complaint about shutting down channels for users to report misinformation, during the voice to parliament referendum.

The industry association, the Digital Industry Group (Digi), announced on Monday that its disinformation and misinformation independent complaints subcommittee found X had “committed a serious breach of the code and has refused to cooperate with Digi”.

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Elon Musk to file ‘thermonuclear lawsuit’ as advertisers desert X

Social media firm boss says he will sue media watchdog that said ads were being placed alongside antisemitic content

Elon Musk has said he will be filing a “thermonuclear lawsuit” against Media Matters and others, after major US companies paused their adverts on his social media site over concerns about antisemitism.

Media watchdog Media Matters said earlier this week that it found corporate advertisements by IBM, Apple, Oracle and Comcast’s Xfinity were being placed alongside antisemitic content, including that praising Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

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