Apple has removed the entire libraries of five Infowars podcasts from the Apple Podcasts platform, Buzzfeed News reported on Sunday.
Among the podcasts removed from Apple's iTunes index are "War Room" and "The Alex Jones Show", hosted by the controversial U.S. radio host and conspiracy theory peddler.
Infowars host Alex Jones
A sixth show, "Real News With David Knight", was the only Infowars podcast to survive Apple's cull, although why that would be remains unclear.
Apple does not host the podcasts per se but is responsible for running the directory for users of its stock Podcasts app. In explaining its decision to remove the five shows, Apple provided Buzzfeed with the following statement:
Infowars was founded by Jones in 1999 and the host has garnered a large following, promoting various conspiracy theories including that the September 11 attacks were staged by the U.S. government.
Recently, the show has been heavily criticized for promoting the theory that many gun massacres reported by the U.S. media are faked by left-wing forces in order to usher in more stringent gun control measures.
Jones is currently being sued in Texas by two parents of children murdered in the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, after the host claimed the massacre was one such hoax. The Connecticut attack, which took place in 2012, left 26 children and adults dead.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Among the podcasts removed from Apple's iTunes index are "War Room" and "The Alex Jones Show", hosted by the controversial U.S. radio host and conspiracy theory peddler.
A sixth show, "Real News With David Knight", was the only Infowars podcast to survive Apple's cull, although why that would be remains unclear.
Apple does not host the podcasts per se but is responsible for running the directory for users of its stock Podcasts app. In explaining its decision to remove the five shows, Apple provided Buzzfeed with the following statement:
"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," a company spokesperson said.In terms of reach and discoverability, the removal of the shows is just the latest in a number of blows for Alex Jones' Infowars series. Last month, Facebook suspended the host's personal profile for 30 days for what it said was hate speech and bullying, while Spotify removed several episodes of Jones' shows last week for violating its hate content policy.
"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."
Infowars was founded by Jones in 1999 and the host has garnered a large following, promoting various conspiracy theories including that the September 11 attacks were staged by the U.S. government.
Recently, the show has been heavily criticized for promoting the theory that many gun massacres reported by the U.S. media are faked by left-wing forces in order to usher in more stringent gun control measures.
Jones is currently being sued in Texas by two parents of children murdered in the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, after the host claimed the massacre was one such hoax. The Connecticut attack, which took place in 2012, left 26 children and adults dead.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Tag: Podcasts
1084 comments
Top Rated Comments
(View all)
10 weeks ago
Not nice, Apple, not nice .. As far as I know hate speech, as long as you don't call for violence, is protected speech just like any other kind of speech in U.S. Snowflake virus is infecting this planet fast.
Protected from government action, not from business or reaction from the public.
Apple is donating 1,000 Apple Watches to a new study that aims to track biological changes in people with eating disorders (via CNBC).
The University of North Carolina's medical school...
Apple has acquired San Francisco-based music analytics startup Asaii, according to unnamed sources cited by Axios. The deal, which has not been confirmed by Apple, was reportedly worth less than...
Police in the United States are being advised not to look at iPhone screens secured with Face ID, because doing so could disable facial authentication and leave investigators needing a potentially...
Apple's upcoming iPad Pro could be one of its thinnest devices yet, measuring in at just 5.9mm thick, based on details shared by a leaker on Twitter who previously provided accurate details on...
Apple is expanding its street mapping efforts beyond vans outfitted with LIDAR equipment and now has employees collecting street level data on foot.
MacRumors reader Dante Cesa spotted a man...
The Australian government is considering a bill that would require tech companies like Apple to provide "critical assistance" to government agencies who are investigating crimes.
...
Two weeks ago, Facebook announced that it discovered a security breach allowing hackers to steal Facebook data from millions of accounts, and today, Facebook shared further data on just what was...
Apple is widely expected to introduce new iPad Pro models with Face ID at a media event later this month, and we can now confirm that Apple has been testing those models internally over the past few...
