Not a parody: The Onion acquires Alex Jones’s InfoWars in auction
Al Jazeera
Satirical website buys platform of US conspiracy theorist, who has been ordered to pay $1.5bn to Sandy Hook families.
In this case, it’s not satire.
InfoWars, the website of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, has been purchased by The Onion – a parody outlet – putting an end to the controversial platform that drummed up anti-government paranoia in the United States for a quarter of a century.
The auction sale on Thursday came as the result of a 2022 ruling that found Jones liable for nearly $1.5bn in damages for defaming the families of the victims of a mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, by calling the attack a hoax.
The 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook claimed the lives of 20 children and six educators, but Jones falsely claimed that the incident did not happen, arguing that the victims and survivors were crisis actors.
The Onion CEO Ben Collins confirmed the sale on Thursday, saying that it took place with the backing of Sandy Hook families.
