Apple has wiped almost all of Alex Jones' Infowars podcasts from iTunes

Alex Jones

Apple has scrubbed nearly all of Alex Jones' Infowars podcasts from iTunes and its Podcast app.
The company said it does not "tolerate hate speech," adding that creators that violate its guidelines will be punished.
Apple's decision represents the most significant crackdown on Jones from a Silicon Valley giant.

Apple has removed almost all of Alex Jones' Infowars podcasts from iTunes and its Podcast app in a sweeping crackdown on the popular conspiracy theorist.

BuzzFeed first reported the news of Apple's decision, which has seen the entire library for five of Infowars' six podcasts scrubbed from the firm's audio platforms. As of Sunday, just one Infowars show remained — "RealNews" with David Knight.

Apple pointed Business Insider to the statement it provided BuzzFeed. The firm told BuzzFeed that it notified Jones of its plans to pull the podcasts under its hate speech guidelines. Jones is yet to comment on the matter.

"Apple does not tolerate hate speech, and we have clear guidelines that creators and developers must follow to ensure we provide a safe environment for all of our users," an Apple spokesperson told BuzzFeed.

"Podcasts that violate these guidelines are removed from our directory making them no longer searchable or available for download or streaming. We believe in representing a wide range of views, so long as people are respectful to those with differing opinions."

Apple's decision represents the most significant crackdown on Jones from a Silicon Valley giant. Facebook and YouTube both selectively removed four of Jones' videos from their platforms last month, but the Infowars presenter still has a significant presence on both websites. Spotify also took down several episodes of "The Alex Jones Show" last week.

Sleeping Giants, an activist organization that vows to "make bigotry and sexism less profitable," has been lobbying Apple to take action against Jones. It welcomed the company's decision on Twitter.

Last week, we asked @Apple how the harassment of Sandy Hook parents and Vegas shooting victims didn’t violate their Terms of Service. Tonight, they decided that it did.

Massive kudos to @Apple for doing what most tech companies have so far refused to do.https://t.co/YeUhJYxmby
— Sleeping Giants (@slpng_giants) August 6, 2018

Jones is facing defamation lawsuits from the families of Sandy Hook victims after his claims that the school shooting was a hoax. Among his theories on the Las Vegas shooting, he has asked whether gunman Stephen Paddock was "a patsy to kick off the left’s war with the right."

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