Apple Removes Alex Jones, ‘Infowars’ Podcasts From Apps
UPDATE: A day after Twitter permanently banned Alex Jones and Infowars, Apple announced Friday night that it has also permanently removed the Infowars app from its App Store, Buzzfeed News reports. The Infowars app had remained in the Apple App Store even after Apple removed all of Jones and Infowars‘ podcasts in early August.
Apple has removed the majority of Alex Jones and Infowars‘ podcasts from its iTunes and Podcast apps. It is the latest tech company after Facebook, Spotify and YouTube to take action against the fringe conspiracy-pushing host.
“Apple does not tolerate hate speech, and we have clear guidelines that creators and developers must follow to ensure we provide a safe environment for all of our users,” an Apple spokesperson said (via Buzzfeed).
“Podcasts that violate these guidelines are removed from our directory making them no longer searchable or available for download or streaming. We believe in representing a wide range of views, so long as people are respectful to those with differing opinions.”
Five of Jones’ six podcasts on Apple, including The Alex Jones Show, were erased from Apple’s apps Sunday; although the apps didn’t host or profit off the Infowars offshoots, Apple served as an important outlet for the controversial podcasts, which have pushed theories like Pizzagate and incited the harassment the victims of mass shootings. Only Infowars offshoot Real News With David Knight remained available on the apps.
In recent months, Facebook, Spotify and YouTube partially or temporarily barred Jones and Infowars from their prospective platforms. On Monday morning, Facebook – which previously temporarily banned Jones’ personal Facebook page – upped their stance against Jones by taking down four pages associated with Infowars.
“We believe in giving people a voice, but we also want everyone using Facebook to feel safe. It’s why we have Community Standards and remove anything that violates them, including hate speech that attacks or dehumanizes others,” Facebook said in a statement Monday. “Earlier today, we removed four Pages belonging to Alex Jones for repeatedly posting content over the past several days that breaks those Community Standards.”
On August 1st, Spotify pulled a handful of Alex Jones Show episodes from the streaming service; on Monday, Spotify removed the remaining episodes of the show. However, three other Jones podcasts remain available on the streaming service.