The removal follows enforcement actions by platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Spotify, and is the largest crackdown on conspiratorial news content by a technology company to date.
Apple has removed the entire library for five of Infowars' six podcasts from its iTunes and Podcast apps, BuzzFeed News has learned. Among the podcasts, which were removed from Apples' iTunes directory, are the show "War Room" as well as the popular Alex Jones Show podcast, which is hosted daily by the prominent conspiracy theorist.
Following the move, Spotify and Facebook have also acted to remove content made by Jones.
Apple's decision to remove all episodes of Jones' popular show — rather than just specific offending episodes — is one of the largest enforcement actions intended to curb conspiratorial news content by a technology company to date. Apple did not host Jones's shows, but it offered an index that allowed anyone with an iPhone to find and subscribe to them. Though Apple is far from Jones and Infowars' only distribution platform, the decision to pull Jones' content will considerably limit the outlet's audio reach — as of 2018, Apple's Podcasts platform amassed 50 billion all-time downloads and streams.
In a statement Sunday evening to BuzzFeed News, Apple confirmed that it notified Jones of the decision to remove the five shows under its hate speech guidelines earlier this weekend. "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.”
Facebook confirmed on Monday morning that it had removed four pages promoting Jones and his shows: The Alex Jones Channel Page, The Alex Jones Page, the Infowars Nightly News Page and the Infowars Page.
In a lengthy press release, a Facebook spokesperson said the pages were taken down "for glorifying violence, which violates our graphic violence policy, and using dehumanizing language to describe people who are transgender, Muslims and immigrants, which violates our hate speech policies."
Facebook last week removed four of Jones's videos for violating hate speech and bullying rules and suspended Jones himself from being a page admin for 30 days – this further action was taken after more videos were reported by users.
A Spotify spokesperson confirmed on Monday morning that the company has removed all episodes of The Alex Jones Show, after it removed some selected episodes last week. Spotify's hate content policy prohibits anything that "expressly and principally promotes, advocates, or incites hatred or violence against a group or individual based on characteristics." The policy warns that repeat offenders will be removed from the platform.
The sweeping move is just the latest in a line of technology companies taking action against Jones and Infowars for violating rules against hateful content. Last month YouTube pulled down four videos posted by Jones and the podcast app Stitcher followed suit, removing Jones' audio show, citing hateful content policies.
As the internet's largest podcast platform, Apple faced pressure all week from media and activists to remove Jones and Infowars from its services. Sleeping Giants, the online activist group which has lobbied for tech platforms to cut all ties with Jones, roundly condemned Apple last week for being slow to join Spotify and Stitcher, suggesting Jones' content routinely breaks the company's terms of service.
iPoopOnPeoples on August 6th, 2018 at 04:21 UTC »
I’m sure Alex Jones will have a very composed and well thought-out, rational response to this.
emcob80 on August 6th, 2018 at 04:18 UTC »
Alex Jones is currently going through a very public legal battle - being sued by parents of victims of the Sandy Hook Massacre. Alex Jones said it was a staged lie perpetrated by the United States Government in a conspired effort to justify stronger laws on assault weapons. I doubt Apple wants any part of that publicity. They’re a business, and businesses don’t like losing money. It’s no different from any other business distancing themselves from controversy.
1saac on August 6th, 2018 at 03:35 UTC »
It would be more accurate to say it was removed from Apple’s directory. Podcasting is an open platform. I kind of doubt if you were already subscribed that it will stop getting you new episodes. This will just make it more difficult for people to find his podcasts when using Apple’s directory.