Alex Jones and an independent media crisis

Trigger Warning mentions of Sandy Hook, rape culture, abortion, war, racism, coups

A picture of a middle aged white man with a greying short beard and short brown hair standing in the sun. He is wearing a dark plaid suit and a light shirt with the collar unbuttoned. He is wearing some type of grey tape over his mouth with writing. — **Screenshot** Image description: A picture of a middle aged white man with a greying short beard and short brown hair standing in the sun. He is wearing a dark plaid suit and a light shirt with the collar unbuttoned. He is wearing some type of grey tape over his mouth that has writing on it. The words “SAVE THE” is visible on the tape. Beneath that the words “INFOWARS” is visible.

I was going to write a bunch of stuff explaining what I think about this whole Alex Jones case but then I saw this video and it says a lot of what I’m thinking about this case.

The truth is that no matter what you think about Alex Jones and his vile slander of the parents of Sandy Hook (as well as plenty of other offensive things Alex Jones has said), it is a fact that the ability to disagree with the mainstream narrative is the whole point of freedom of speech. So if you think that disagreeing with the mainstream narrative is something that should be censored then you’re handing more power to the establishment. That means you’re disempowering people who are already marginalized by the mainstream narrative and who disagree with how the establishment treats them.

But Alex Jones isn’t a marginalized person, right? He’s a powerful rich white man who does whatever he wants so who cares what happens to him? Except that it’s not him I’m worried about. It’s the implications of his trial on everyone else.

Let’s say the establishment decides that critical race theory is defamatory to white people, or worse, a threat to national security. What then? Is every person who asked that critical race theory be taught in schools liable? Will teachers be liable for teaching it? Will anyone who writes an article supporting critical race theory be liable? What if the establishment says that anyone who supports critical race theory is engaging in treason? Will you tell on your friends to save yourself from the government?

How about those who disagree with the establishment narrative on a particular war? When George W. Bush started the war in Iraq, the establishment narrative was that Saddam Hussein had WMDs. The grassroots anti-war movement believed the war in Iraq was about oil. Independent media did a lot of reporting supporting the anti-establishment narrative that this war was for oil. Should those independent media outlets be liable because according to the establishment they defamed President George W. Bush, the US armed forces, and individual service members? What about how they might have “defamed” the corporations that made lots of money out of the Iraq war? (Corporations are supposed to be people, remember?)

What about if a student accuses a university campus of rape culture? What if she says sexual predators on campus are preying on students and the university is protecting those predators? The establishment narrative of that university is that there is no rape culture and there are no predators. Should the student be held liable for disagreeing with the establishment narrative? What if she writes an article or op-ed about the topic and publishes it? What if she posts videos about it on youtube naming and shaming? Should she be liable for sharing her opinion? What if a criminal case goes to court and the people she accuses are found not guilty of what was alleged (which happens all the time because the criminal justice system is a rape culture)? Should she be held liable in that situation?

What about the people who disagree with the supreme court overturning Roe V Wade which means individual states get to decide the terms of abortion access? What if those people write articles and make videos and do interviews with other people who feel the same way they do? Should all those people be liable for disagreeing with the supreme court of the land or the government of the land on what is right and what is not right?

What about when Jan 6th happened and media outlets everywhere called the event in DC “a coup”. It wasn’t a coup. Saying it was a coup is a factually incorrect opinion spouted by people who have so much global north privilege that they don’t even know what a coup looks like. They are uninformed despite the fact that their country regularly plans and commits coups all over the world. Should those people who called Jan 6th “a coup” be liable for their ignorant words? Should they be liable for their opinion? Or do they have a right to their opinion no matter how factually incorrect and privileged and offensive to the people who’ve actually suffered coups their opinion is? Is having an opinion and stating that opinion the basic right of freedom of speech or not?

European countries used to believe that questioning the church was heresy and governments burned people at the stake for holding “heretic” opinions. Theocracies even today execute and physically punish people for daring to disagree with the establishment narrative of what is true and what is not true. The ability to state your opinion is a human right but that human right is a precious gift granted to you by the Indigenous Great Law of Peace, not by any white male saviors.

Think very carefully about what you’re celebrating when you think Alex Jones is getting his “comeuppance”. Supporting the establishment will only lead to more oppression, more silencing, more censorship. Things will only get worse from there. There’s no coming back from a government that thinks it’s the arbiter of truth and is legally able to enforce its opinion on everyone else. As if things aren’t bad enough already.

The establishment never does anything to hurt a white man without making sure that the people who suffer the most will always be Black, brown, non-male, colonized, queer, disabled, and non-Abrahamic. Those in power like making big showy examples out of white men like Alex Jones (even though he likely won’t pay much for this case). They do this because they know you’ll support them and go along with the instruments of your own demise.

If this Alex Jones case had actually set a precedent that a media source can be held liable for differing from the mainstream narrative (it didn’t set such a precedent) that would have been very bad for all of us, particularly those most marginalized.