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.
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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.
"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."
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.
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.
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Top Rated Comments
(View all)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.More left wing companies removing freedom of speech
Alex Jones isn’t just some right winger being “silenced”. He is a dangerous propagandist who peddles preposterous lies that have caused real-world damage. Good riddance.[doublepost=1533553428][/doublepost]Im sorry but now days hate speech is speaking out againt the main stream media, ring wing youtubers dont always say hate they just speak the truth but are silenced by the left
[doublepost=1533553428][/doublepost]Im sorry but now days hate speech is speaking out againt the main stream media, right wing youtubers dont always say hate they just speak the truth but are silenced by the left
Alex Jones isn’t just some right winger being “silenced”. He is a dangerous propagandist who peddles preposterous lies that have caused real-world damage. Good riddance.
Still it doesn't make it ok. Everybody can decide for themselves.That's what they said about round-earthers. You know, those nutcases who actually thought the world wasn't flat, in complete defiance of the church and all common decency. Glad those people were silenced.
Except that round-earthers weren't spewing hate speech. That's kind of the main point here.The world needs speech it isn't used to hearing in order to think. Is he mostly nuts? Sure, but he deserves to speak as much as anyone else does.
Alex Jones is a terrible human being and he adds nothing of value to any topic. He's been doing this since 1999 and he's never been right about anything.