Who is Alex Jones? Why should I care?
You have probably seen the recent headlines that Alex Jones have been banned from few social media sites, including Facebook, Youtube and Pinterest.
Who is Alex Jones?
He is a radio show host also known as a conspiracy theorist. He owns a website named infowars. He publish stories that is considered as fake news and has been linked to harassing victims. Infowars has over 10 million monthly visits to its site.
Some of Alex Jones Bizarre theories :
Alex comes up with a number of conspiracy theories. One of it is the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. He says that the whole thing was a ‘giant hoax’ where the children who died were actors. Twenty children died in this attack. He is currently being sued for defamation by the parents of two children killed in the attack.
Last year he tweeted that Muslims in England demanded the queen to convert to Islam.
He said that “transgenderism” is a CIA “plan to depopulate humanity”
In 2013, he described then President Barack Obama as the “global head of al-Qaeda”
9/11 attacks in New York were staged by the US government.
Source : BBC News
Thank God Alex Jones is banned from social media? Maybe not just yet
By now you understand the type of content that he is spreading online. It took a long time for social giants to finally ban him. Atleast we will see less of him. You think so ? Since the ban The InfoWars app has seen a surge in popularity.
It is now ranked mumber 4 in the news category in Apple’s App Store.
Should parents care about him?
Some of Alex Jones content can be hilarious and he is definitely an eccentric character. He is a smart guy that knows how to sell information to the public. He is well aware that fear sells and he has used this in his content.
It is ok for someone to have different views and opinion. But there should be a line drawn and people should remain respectful. Alex Jones have definitely crossed that line.
Despite the ban , he is gaining popularity. His website is viewed even more than mainstream sites. There is plenty of hate speech content distributed on his platform.
What if our children read his news and starts believing every word he says? Can you imagine what the future world would look like?
When stories like this break out it is important for parents to talk to their children about it. Have a discussion in your home about some of the claims he stated above. Ask your children if they think what he says is true or not. Question his character with your kids. Show them the actual news and what he claims to be true. This can help children differentiate fake news from the real ones.
Do remember what your kids read and do online can determine how they think and behave. We protect our children in the offline world by telling them not to talk to strangers or read magazines they are not suppose too. Likewise, we need to protect young minds from characters such as Alex Jones that can appear in their news feed, and can always follow them wherever they go.
Don’t forget to stay safe online
