Twitter suspends Alex Jones for one week after violating company rules

Charles Ventura | USA TODAY

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)

Twitter suspended the personal account of "Infowars" host and far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for one week Tuesday for violating the social media company's rules against inciting violence.

The social network 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 decision, according to The New York Times, was made after Jones tweeted a link to a video calling for supporters to get their “battle rifles” ready against media and others.

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 was not affected.

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 been criticized for promoting 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.

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

Last week, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey defended his company's decision not to ban Jones and his “Infowars” show. Dorsey’s remarks came after other tech companies — Facebook, Apple, YouTube and Spotify — removed Jones’ content for violating hate speech policies and online backlash.

Contributing: Ryan Suppe, USA TODAY; Associated Press