Media Matters for America, a left-wing watchdog group, is considering buying Alex Jones’ InfoWars after a Texas judge ruled that the outlet must pay the families of victims of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. can be destroyed. a report.
Texas and Connecticut courts ruled that conspiracy theorist Jones must pay $1.5 billion in damages to the families of Jones for repeatedly claiming that the shootings did not happen. Last week, a judge in Houston ruled that InfoWars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, It may be destroyed and put up for auction to help pay the judgment.
Semaphore reported A handful of liberal and nonprofit organizations were reported Sunday to be exploring the possibility of bidding on Infowars, including the left-leaning group Media Matters.
“We are diligently considering this acquisition,” Media Matters president Angelo Carusone told the outlet. Carusone said the organization would consider checking InfoWars archives to see what the outlet has not published.
Jones recently suggested that the Infowars assets could be purchased by his supporters, allowing him to continue hosting his show as an employee under the Infowars brand in his home city of Austin, Texas.
In recent days, Jones publicly urged ex-boss Elon Musk to buy Infowars, Semaphore said, adding that one of the billionaire’s first actions as owner of Twitter was to revoke the site’s ban on Jones’ account. .
An unnamed source told the publication that they hoped Jones would find an outside funder who would outbid the competition, take control of the site at auction and install Jones as head of the property.
Semaphore reported that this may not come as a surprise to Jones’ victims, stating that one of the lawsuits involved allowing Jones to keep InfoWars as a way to generate funds to pay huge damages. Was involved.
The publication also reported that there are some other left-leaning groups that are flirting with the idea of bidding on Infowars ahead of the November auction.
Jeff Rotkoff, CEO of new Texas-focused digital publication The Barbed Wire, told the publication that while he is not currently in a position to buy the Austin-based company outright, he is in talks with people across his network for a partnership. . With his site to bid as a group.
“We started The Barbed Wire to disrupt the constant stream of conspiracies and disinformation from people like Alex Jones and Joe Rogan, and use the InfoWars brand to mitigate some of the damage they have done in the direction of justice. There will be a move, Rotkoff said.
An unnamed third executive at a left-leaning media company said they would consider making a bid this week, and an adviser to several progressive nonprofit news organizations said they are talking to big donors about making a bid or launching a crowdfunding campaign. talking to.
Semaphore also reported that others on the left are discussing the bidding process.
one in Post Earlier this week on X, Brian Krassenstein, who along with his twin brother famous for its viral The anti-Trump tweet said he would “call it misinfowars and hire Alex Jones again, but dress her up as ‘Alexa Jones’ and tell fairy tales.”
Although the post was posted as a joke, Krassenstein said he found the bidding on the site interesting.
“We are actually considering a bid but I can’t really imagine it winning because I’m sure it will exceed our budget,” he said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
Both Jones and his company Filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022 – That same year Sandy Hook families won nearly $1.5 billion in defamation and emotional distress lawsuits against Jones after he repeatedly dramatized the 2012 school shooting as a play by “crisis actors” to get more gun control laws passed Told.
Twenty-one first grade students and six teachers were killed in the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
