Alex Jones will never abandon deranged propaganda, that's why Twitter needs to ban him Twitter has suspended conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Twitter for a week, but he should be banned forever. His lies aren't constitutionally protected.

Kurt Bardella | Opinion columnist

Most rational human beings have spent little time trying to understand the mind and mentality of a conspiracy theorist. I doubt they’ve ever spent much time even talking to the type of person who dedicates every waking moment of their life to spreading hate through malicious lies.

So when Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told NBC Nightly News’ Lester Holt that the seven-day time-out given to InfoWars’ Alex Jones could make “someone think about their actions and behaviors” my first reaction was this was clearly someone who has spent little to no time with the Alex Jones’ of the world.

Jones' ideas deserve more than a time-out

After all, would you spend quality time with someone who believed Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl Halftime performance from 2017 was really a “satanic ritual” in disguise? Would you go out to lunch with a guy who accused Bill Gates of being a “top eugenicist” intent on “creating a world-wide race-based system and funded Adolf Hitler”? Would you invite into your home someone who believes a devastating tornado in Oklahoma was really the work of the government’s “weather weapon?”

Dorsey’s naïve take on how a one-week Twitter time-out might give Alex Jones, a man who claimed that “Hillary Clinton has personally murdered and chopped up and raped” children, time to reflect and change his ways revealed how truly unfamiliar he is with the conspiracy theories that fuel the alt-right hate machine. If Dorsey is guilty of anything, it’s ignorance.

Jack is not alone.

I once fell into the same trap believing that an organization that became known for trolling in conspiracy theories and hate could re-invent itself and become a serious and credible platform. It was in that context back in 2013, that I was first introduced to Steve Bannon and Breitbart News. Steve told me his goal, in the wake of the platform’s namesake Andrew Breitbart’s unexpected death, was to build a “best-in-class” political reporting operation that could chronicle and “own” the political narratives on Capitol Hill and ultimately the country.

Twitter can and should ban Jones

Three years later, I had resigned from working with Breitbart as a media consultant while Bannon was proudly declaring that Breitbart News “is the platform for the alt-right.”

I suspect if Dorsey had the same vantage point I had the benefit of, listening every day to the alt-right’s brand of racism, sexism and xenophobia, he would have approached the ongoing Alex Jones conundrum much differently and much more definitively.

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The reality is there is no such thing as self-reflection or retreat from these hate-mongers. They see social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube as their best weapon to spread their deranged brand of propaganda while enriching themselves with notoriety and money along the way.

The First Amendment does not guarantee American citizens the right to voluntarily join Twitter or set up a YouTube Channel. Furthermore, nothing is stopping the Alex Jones’ and Steve Bannon’s of the world from creating and launching their own platforms to espouse their destructive world view.

The First Amendment was specifically crafted to prohibit the government from passing laws restricting free speech, free press, peaceful assembly and religious affiliation. There are zero constitutional implications for a private, non-government enterprise like Twitter, Facebook or YouTube from excluding people like Alex Jones and InfoWars from using these platforms to spread hate, lies and misinformation. After all, Donald Trump supporters are all too-willing to accept the NFL’s right to restrict their player’s rights to take a knee during the national anthem, so they should have no issue with Twitter policing their product and its users however they see fit.

Twitter shouldn't allow lies and hate to spread

At the end of the day, Jack Dorsey has created a platform that whether he likes it or not, has become the primary recruiting tool for racists, white nationalists, conspiracy theorists and liars. His platform is the primary weapon being used by people intent on systemically destroying the social fabrics of our entire Republic. Allowing people like Alex Jones to continue using your platform under the guise of free speech, is like giving weapons to terrorists while advocating for peace.

If Dorsey continues to allow hate and real fake news to live and thrive on his platform, then he shares responsibility for the consequences to our society. If he continues to give Alex Jones and Breitbart and other like-minded people and organizations a platform on Twitter, then he is complicit in every like, every retweet and every follower they gain.

Kurt Bardella is a member of USA Today’s Board of Contributors and a former spokesperson for Breitbart News, Reps. Brian Bilbray (R-CA), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee. Follow him on Twitter: @kurtbardella