Just days after Elon Musk controversially reinstated Alex Jones, the notorious conspiracy theorist, on X (formerly Twitter), his follower count has surged, sparking widespread debate and concern. This article delves into the rapid growth of Jones’s followers, the context surrounding his return, and the implications for the platform and the spread of online disinformation.
Following a years-long ban, Alex Jones’s return to X has been marked by a significant influx of followers. Within a mere three days of his reinstatement, Jones amassed over 800,000 followers. To put this in perspective, when Twitter initially suspended Jones’s account on September 6, 2018, archives indicate he had approximately 900,000 followers, a number he had accumulated over eight years since joining the platform in 2010. This means that in just a few days, Jones nearly doubled his previous follower count, reaching a staggering 1.7 million.
This dramatic increase raises questions about the authenticity of these new followers and the overall health of the platform. Elon Musk has publicly stated that X is prioritizing the removal of “bots,” automated accounts designed to mimic human followers. However, critics remain skeptical about the effectiveness of these measures and whether any substantial changes have truly been implemented since Twitter’s rebranding to X. Notably, a Mashable report from August highlighted that accounts with zero followers constituted over 70% of Elon Musk’s own follower count, further fueling doubts about the platform’s bot problem. The exact number of active, genuine human users among Jones’s new followers remains unclear.
Nevertheless, this surge in visibility provides a significant boost to Alex Jones’s career, particularly at a time when he arguably needs it most. The past five years and three months since his initial Twitter suspension have been tumultuous for Jones. He has faced a financially devastating legal judgment exceeding $1 billion in damages for propagating falsehoods about the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and causing immense suffering to the victim’s families. Beyond legal battles, Jones has also reportedly experienced personal difficulties and further entrenched himself within radical-right circles, playing a key role in amplifying disinformation leading up to the January 6th Capitol attack.
Prior to being deplatformed from major platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, Alex Jones relied heavily on mainstream website visibility to sustain his operations. Musk’s decision to reinstate him means Jones is no longer confined to his own website and fringe platforms like Cozy.TV. He now joins a growing list of right-wing extremists, including anti-Muslim figure Laura Loomer, who have been welcomed back onto the platform under Musk’s leadership.
Experts on disinformation are deeply concerned about the implications of this reinstatement. Joan Donovan, a disinformation researcher and co-author of Meme Wars, emphasizes the expanded reach of potentially harmful content. She told Hatewatch that Jones’s return “exponentially expands the reach of hate, harassment and incitement.” Donovan further connects Musk’s actions to a broader trend, stating, “it doesn’t take a sociologist to connect the dots between Musk-Tucker Carlson-Alex Jones Redux. In so many ways, these men all need each other to represent a full-spectrum information war, where the public are all tuned into Channel Z, led by this alternative influence network.”
Indeed, both Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson have emerged as influential figures in mainstreaming radical-right content. On the same day he announced his independent streaming network, Carlson hosted Jones for a 90-minute interview on X, presenting a softened image of the extremist and allowing him to disseminate unsubstantiated claims. Shortly after this interview, Musk launched a poll on X asking users whether to reinstate Jones, and subsequently reinstated him by December 10th. Jones then promptly appeared on “Spaces,” X’s livestream audio feature, alongside Musk, disinformation specialist Jack Posobiec, and other controversial figures, further solidifying his return to the platform’s mainstream discourse.
In conclusion, Alex Jones’s rapid accumulation of followers on X following his reinstatement highlights the complex and often controversial dynamics of social media platforms in the dissemination of information and the amplification of extremist voices. While the exact composition and authenticity of his new followers remain subject to scrutiny, the undeniable surge in his visibility raises significant concerns about the potential for increased spread of disinformation and hate speech on the platform.
