Before Twitter suspended Alex Jones, Infowars was already directing users to Tumblr

Show Caption Hide Caption Facebook removes Alex Jones' Infowars pages Facebook says it has taken down four pages belonging to rightwing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for violating its hate speech and bullying policies. The Infowars YouTube channel was also terminated. (Aug. 6)

SAN FRANCISCO – Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones won't get to tweet for a week. But even before the mild sanctioning from the social media service, his Infowars account had been directing users to another social media platform – Verizon-owned Tumblr.

Starting last Tuesday, Twitter suspended the personal account of the "Infowars" host for violating the social media company's rules against inciting violence after Jones tweeted a link to a video on Twitter's Periscope service calling for supporters to get their “battle rifles” ready against media and "antifa" activists.

Twitter said in a statement that Jones' account "currently has limited functionality." Jones was told the account would regain full functionality seven days after the removal of a tweet with "a broadcast in violation of our rules."

The one-week suspension will prevent Jones from tweeting or retweeting, though he will be able to browse Twitter. The Twitter account for his “Infowars” show remains active.

In an interview Wednesday with NBC News' Lester Holt, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey called the suspension a "timeout."

"I feel any suspension, whether it be a permanent or a temporary one, makes someone think about their actions and their behaviors,” Dorsey said.

Dorsey also said that Twitter has been consistent in its enforcement of rules in Jones' case, while other companies have been "a little bit inconsistent."

The enforcement applies to both Jones' Twitter and Periscope accounts.

Jones, a far-right pundit and provocateur, has promoted widely debunked theories. Among other things, he said the Sandy Hook Elementary School murders were staged, and he said survivors of the Parkland, Florida, high school shooting were actors.

He has a large following on social media, including 889,000 followers on Twitter. And he has been praised by President Donald Trump, who appeared on "InfoWars" during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Infowars had already been directing followers to yet another site – Tumblr.

"They can take our Facebook, Apple, Spotify, Tunein, Youtube, Stitcher, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Flickr, Vimeo, Sprout, Mailchimp & Disqus but they'll never take our...........Tumblr!" Infowars tweeted Tuesday. The tweet includes a link to the Infowars Tumblr page.

They can take our Facebook, Apple, Spotify, Tunein, Youtube, Stitcher, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Flickr, Vimeo, Sprout, Mailchimp & Disqus but they'll never take our...........Tumblr! 🤣🤣🤣



Get the free app while you still can: https://t.co/vm914ii1lhhttps://t.co/BifgnMVgS5 pic.twitter.com/d1BEhEHGK8 — infowars (@infowars) August 14, 2018

Even as they vow to halt the spread of fake news, the major tech platforms that host social media services have been loathe to eliminate users for promoting debunked theories. Instead, they have leaned on other policies to curtail these activities.

Google-owned YouTube terminated his account for violating community guidelines. Facebook removed pages for violating the social network's policy against hate speech. Apple took down his podcasts because the company "does not tolerate hate speech." The Infowars app is still available on Apple's App Store and Google's Google Play.

Until Tuesday, despite mounting complaints that it had been ignoring Jones' violations of policies, Twitter had maintained he had done nothing wrong.

The halting moves to stem Jones' social media distribution has intensified a discussion about how these powerful platforms, which haven taken the place of traditional media for many Americans, decide what content users see. While many have lauded Facebook, Apple and others for removing his content, others have warned allowing platforms to moderate speech based on objectionable content is a slippery slope by companies that have a reputation for applying rules about speech unevenly.

Jones has used the moves as a battle cry, calling the purge of his online accounts a conspiracy by "big tech" to censor conservative viewpoints ahead of the 2018 midterm election and 2020 presidential election.

He has directed users to other outlets. The Infowars Tumblr page includes links to Infowars-related sites such as newswars.com and prisonplanet.com. Tumblr is a blogging and social media platform owned by Oath Inc., a subsidiary of Verizon.

Tumblr did not respond to a request for comment.

Jones continues to stream his show live on Infowars.com. His accounts on lesser-known social media sites, which are known to be popular among the alt-right, remain live as well.

Mike Snider contributed to this report.