Facebook and Spotify have recently removed some content from Alex Jones from their platforms. In my opinion I think Apple should be next. Recode reports on Spotify’s move:
Infowars founder Alex Jones is getting another slap on the wrist from a major tech company: Spotify, the music streaming service that also streams podcasts, has removed multiple episode of “The Alex Jones Show” for violating the company’s policies around hate speech.
Before I get emails from readers accusing me of political bias (it happened recently) let me give you my take. Regardless of whether Alex Jones is considered alt-right, conservative, or whatever you want to call him, this shouldn’t be a political issue. People from all political sides should support compassion for others, as well as support evidence-based discourse. Alex Jones isn’t compassionate, and many of the things he says aren’t based on evidence.
Check It Out: Should Apple Ban Alex Jones From its Platforms?
The quoted examples for banning Jones do not help your case in the slightest. There’s no hate there at all, dissenting opinion, maybe even crazy opinion, but nothing requiring the drastic step of becoming responsible for the content your pipe provides.
Cross that line and all arguments about being a pipe disappear. Apple is now responsible for the content it provides and will die by that sword. Maybe that’s their intention. Podcasts can’t even be breaking-even for Apple (which will notoriously not run anything at a loss), and this might be the first step out of podcasts. After affiliates for Apps, it can be seen as Apple distancing itself from community… yet again. Apple is about to become a television service and podcasts might not be compatible with their carefully crafted public image.
If you want to characterise Cook’s Apple, ‘carefully crafted public image’ would have to be top of the list. We may not be able to ship product, but man do you know where we stand on public issues. And that keyboard that we know is going to keep failing… just do without your MacBook for for a few days (you’ve got hot-swap spares, right?) while we fix it at-no-charge! Again and again, for 4 years.
I feel so much better you’ve booted one crazy guy off your podcast list, Tim Cook. Are you familiar with the concept of virtue signalling?
As a long time daily/weekly reader of the Mac Observer (2001/2002 somewhere around there) seeing Alex’s face on the home page was bizarre. So bizarre that I had to sign-up for the forum and make a comment after all these years of just reading. I’ve listened to InfoWars as a whole for the last several years (I’m talk REALLY listening time wise) and I don’t understand why people say these things about Alex or InfoWars as a whole. I think most of it is because they don’t understand him or what he is talking about (the CIA, NSA whistle blowers, military and government connections and info that Alex has and knows). He can’t talk about everything but he gets a lot of info out there that normally no one would get a chance to even know about much less talk about. He does gets things wrong but not as much as the MSM gives him credit for. Also if people don’t know about, what I call, the real world, then they would have a hard time wrapping their minds around some of, or even a lot of, what InfoWars talks about. I’ve experienced some of that world and it is everything and more then what Alex talks about on air.
Before Donald Trump, I never heard of InfoWars in mainstream media but ever since your election, the MSM is on a constant “take InfoWars out!” drum beat. Now to see his face on TMO too, LOL. I guess he has made it to the mainstream now so even the tech news is covering him. Everyone now knows about Alex Jones and InfoWars just like NBC/FOX/CBS/etc.
Now about the free speech part, I don’t think you Americans understand what you loose if Alex gets taken out. I had heard things from your mainstream media like CNN that is worse and is in breach of FCC standards, then what I have heard on air from InfoWars and nothing happens to them, not even a slap on the wrist. So I would say you guys have major double standards going on down in your country. Up here in Canada, we don’t have freedom of speech anymore, it is long gone. You don’t realize it until you loose it I guess.
Dissenting opinion is one thing, out right lies and hate speech is another.
Having groped my way around Apple’s podcast submission site (my goodness! No wonder so many podcast hosting sites feel the need to provide a wrapper), I can’t find any Terms and Conditions, just a statement that “Apple can reject a podcast for a variety of reasons; including copyright violations or offensive content.” Of course, “offensive” is not defined, and I’d expect Apple to make up the rules as they go along, as with the App store — where at least they get somewhat documented eventually. So the question becomes “Are Alex Jones’ podcasts offensive?” I’m afraid I’m not going to listen to find out, but, if you think they are, you can use the “Report a concern” button in iTunes (I have not checked the iOS Podcasts app) to express that opinion (which may or may not have any perceptible effect).