On Tuesday, “Infowars” host Alex Jones was given a limited, seven-day suspension by Twitter over content Twitter says violated its terms of service.
Multiple reports said the suspension was over a video, posted to Twitter-owned Periscope earlier Tuesday, in which Jones told viewers to get “battle rifles” in order to oppose Antifa. Media Matters captured a portion of the video, which Jones has since removed.
Twitter did not issue a statement publicly about the action, but CNN, The Washington Post and New York Times reported that Twitter representatives confirmed the suspension occurred.
Jones’ account was not removed from Twitter and as of this writing is still fully accessible to anyone he hasn’t blocked. Instead, his account’s functionality has been restricted. While he will be able to send direct messages, he will not be able to post tweets, retweet other users, like tweets or follow new users. CNN said that a screenshot of Jones’ Twitter account showing the limited functionality was first shared by an unnamed Infowars personality.
Only Jones’ personal account has been affected. Infowars remains fully active.
The move comes one day after Jones was booted from Vimeo over what it called “discriminatory and hateful content.” Last week, Facebook, Apple, and Spotify moved in quick succession to drop his content. Twitter declined to take similar action along with them, saying that Jones hadn’t violated its terms of service.
Jones has made a name for himself pushing several wild and unsupported claims, including a recent warning that Democrats were plotting to start a second Civil War on the Fourth of July. Perhaps most notoriously, Jones called the Sandy Hook school shooting a “hoax” — a statement that he is now being sued over by the families of eight victims.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request from TheWrap for comment.