![]() This notion held that gay people planned to corrupt mainstream media with their lifestyles and encourage homosexuality among children. Around this time, the idea of a “gay agenda” gained mainstream traction. This report was one of the first of its kind, and caused public panic towards what seemed to be a higher-than-expected number of LGBT people. This claim surfaced around the same time as a 2010 study from the Williams Institute at the Law School of UCLA that estimated approximately 9 million Americans identified as LGBT (2.5% of the population) while 25.6 million Americans (11% of the population) acknowledged at least some same-gender attraction. ” He claimed to have documents proving that the government was going to reduce birth rates by spreading chemicals that would cause homosexuality in Americans’ drinking water. government-sponsored chemical warfare operation explained why “ there’s so many gay people now. His best example of this is the Great Gay Frog Conspiracy, a complex and comical combination of ideas from past conspiracies. Alex Jones, a far-right conspiracy theorist, knows this and draws on memorable conspiracy theories to create his own and take the Internet by storm. These theories are mostly baseless, but because so many Americans are familiar with them, they shape their understanding of related topics. Millions of Americans believe that the government faked the moon landing of 1969 or that the government keeps aliens in Area 51. Over the years, despite spreading deranged conspiracy theories every time he appeared on TV, the web, or in public, Jones continued to receive coverage from mainstream media outlets looking for "provocative” voices.Conspiracy theories infect American culture. Why? Because Jones had started a petition to have Morgan deported for “attacking the Second Amendment.” Instead of ignoring this trolling, Morgan welcomed it, and CNN displayed the web address for InfoWars throughout the interview. But two years later, CNN’s Piers Morgan hosted Jones on his show shortly after the Sandy Hook shooting. ![]() Something like that should have been the end of his time in the media limelight. During that appearance, he made a comment to “Tower 7,” a reference to a common 9/11 conspiracy theory. According to media critic Parker Molloy, who writes The Present Age newsletter, Jones was invited on to ABC’s The View in 2011 to talk about Charlie Sheen getting fired from his show, "Two and a Half Men" on CBS. That initial attention bought him appearances on mainstream television. Jones first rose to notoriety in the early 2000s as this “crazy” guy who entertains by saying whatever comes to his mind on his radio show. He’s the quintessential example of a guy who people hear is “controversial,” and that controversy drives interest in his content.ĭespite spreading deranged conspiracy theories every time he appeared on TV, the web, or in public, Jones continued to receive coverage from mainstream media outlets Though Wednesday’s judgment will likely put a significant dent in Jones’ finances, Infowars still garners hundreds of thousands of views every day. Many readers already know Jones’ story, and the way he rants and raves on camera day after day while hawking supplements and survival gear. Jones is one of the most prolific spreaders of misinformation and conspiracy theories in modern media history. The families’ quest for justice is just the latest in a long line of stories from this age of modern misinformation. ![]() The ruling follows nearly $50 million in damages awarded by a Texas jury, after years of Jones spreading lies about the shooting and the victims' families on his network, Infowars. ![]() On Wednesday, a jury in Connecticut awarded the families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims $965 million in their lawsuit against right-wing conspiracy theorist and media personality Alex Jones.
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