The Onion buys InfoWars

In case you’ve been living under a rock, The Onion just made headlines for purchasing Alex Jones’ InfoWars for an undisclosed amount. 

The Onion, which claims to “have 4.3 trillion daily readers”, is a newspaper-turned-website that is responsible for some of the internet’s most cutting satirical humour. 

Iconic headlines include: “L’Oreal Suspends Production Of Irresistible 2-Step Lip Color Stick After Lab Rat Seduces Way Out Of Facility”, “Archaeological Dig Uncovers Ancient Race Of Skeleton People” and “Ninja Parade Slips Through Town Unnoticed Once Again”. 

Truly top-tier journalism.

InfoWars

InfoWars, headed by right-wing conspiracy theorist and internet crazy man Alex Jones, has been embroiled in a legal battle for years following repeated claim that the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting were paid actors employed by the US government in a “deep state” conspiracy. 

The basis of Jones’ claim was that the tragic massacre, as well as others like it, were part of a grand conspiracy to take away gun rights from Americans. Jones later admitted that the shootings were “100 per cent real” in a separate defamation trial. 

In 2022, the families of Sandy Hook victims won their case against Jones, which resulted in a judgment of almost US$1.5 billion. Jones filed for bankruptcy soon after. 

why does it matter?

For years, the internet has debated whether spreaders of misinformation (false information shared with the sincere belief of its accuracy) and disinformation (false information shared even though the sharer knows it’s false) should be held accountable for their actions.

When Barack Obama was president, Jones perpetuated the lie that he wasn’t an American citizen. When Hillary Clinton ran for president in 2016, Jones widely disseminated the Pizzagate theory, which not only turned out to be false, but also led to an armed gunman entering the pizza shop and firing his weapon. For what it’s worth, Jones later apologisedto the restaurant’s owner.

Jones claims to be a “provocateur”. At other times, he (and his lawyers) claimed he is “a performance artist” and that the Alex Jones who rants and raves on YouTube is just a “character” that he plays. 

The problem is, the claims Jones makes are usually proven to be false—but that hasn’t stopped him from profiting off them. He’s made millions from selling products on his store from t-shirts to health supplements—many of which have dubious health benefits.

Then there’s the very real effects of his so-called “performances”. While Jones claims not to be sincere when it suits him, the reality is, his accusations have very real effects. The families of the Sandy Hook victims have endured years of harassment from Jones’ fans. On several occasions, people knocked on the doors of the parents of the dead children, asserting their child was still alive and demanding the parents admit it. Online posters issued death threats against the families, with one family being forced to erase all online records of their dead daughter, as every time she was mentioned, a flood of abuse would inevitably follow.

All these instances are examples of “stochastic terrorism”. Unlike conventional terrorism, the perpetrators only indirectly incite their followers against the victim. It could come in the form of dehumanising language and violent rhetoric through dog whistling, coded language or jokes. It opens up victims to discrimination and potential violence, though as in the Pizzagate incident, encourages lone wolf behaviour and is difficult to control. This is how bad actors like Alex Jones are able to distance themselves from random acts of violence.

Of course, one of the major arguments in this conversation is the issue of free speech—namely, the limits of free speech. Jones, in a 2022 deposition said, “If questioning public events and free speech is banned because it might hurt somebody’s feelings, we are not in America anymore.” The issue is that free speech is a constitutional right under the First Amendment. Jones has argued that seeking to silence or punish him for exercising his First Amendment rights is a direct attack on the constitution. However, the plaintiffs’ lawyers saw things differently, at one time saying, “Speech is free, but lies you have to pay for.”

what’s next

Alex Jones has called the auction “rigged” and at present, Elon Musk is trying to retain rights to the InfoWars’ X profile.

The Onion plans on retaining the InfoWars website—but transform it. CEO Tim Onion (real name Ben Collins) said on BlueSky, 

“We are planning on making it a very funny, very stupid website.” Further, “The Onion is proud to acquire Infowars, and we look forward to continuing its storied tradition of scaring the site’s users with lies until they fork over their cold, hard cash.”