Alex Jones' $49.3 million judgment and the future of misinformation

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Associated Press

Michael R. Sisak

Alex Jones faces a hefty price tag for lying Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre — $49.3 million in damages and the deadliest in the country counts for claiming that a typical school shooting was a hoax — a punitive salvo in a fledgling war against harmful misinformation.

But this week's ruling, the first of three Sandy Hook-related lawsuits against Jones, was fueled by a larger disinformation ecosystem: social media. What it means for the world of electoral denial, COVID-19 skepticism, and other dubious claims Infowars conspiracy theorists helped build.

“I think a lot of people see this as a kind of blow to fake news. is important.” First Amendment Professor, UCLA School of Law.

U.S. courts have long held that defamatory speech (false statements that damage a person's or corporate reputation) are not protected as free speech, but lies about other subjects such as science, history, and government are. I have decided that I will. For example, it is not defamatory to say that COVID-19 is not real, but it is defamatory to spread lies about doctors treating coronavirus patients.

Sandy Jones attacked the parents of Hook victims and claimed the 2012 mass shooting was staged by the actor to tighten gun control, but the Holocaust This difference is why we are forced to pay while denying Flat Earth theorists and vaccine skeptics are free to post their theories without fear of multi-million dollar court rulings.

"Alex Jones was attacking individuals," said Steven D. Solomon, law professor and founding editor of New York University's First Amendment Watch. "And that's important. A lot of disinformation doesn't attack individuals." Lawyers said they hoped a large sum of money judgment against Jones would help deter him and others from spreading misinformation. profit.

"I ask you to remove the loudspeakers from Alex Jones and all others who believe they can profit from fear and misinformation," said Wesley. Ball said in closing arguments on Friday. "The gold rush of fear and misinformation must end, and it must end today." He argued that his remarks on Hooke were protected by the First Amendment. He appeared in court with "Save the 1st" taped over his mouth.

However, despite the popular theatrics, Jones never made such a claim in court. After Jones failed to comply with an order to turn over material evidence, the judge entered a default judgment for the plaintiff and skipped the punishment stage.

Attorneys for Jones Andino Reynal, a civil servant, told the jury during closing arguments that big judgments have a chilling effect on those who want to hold the government accountable. We've already sent a message, the first ever message to talk show hosts, all talk show hosts, that their standards of care must change," Raynal told the jury. 69} According to free speech experts, the chilling effect should be limited to those who deliberately spread false information, while journalists and other citizens make good faith efforts to get to the truth of the matter. says it won't.

"You have to look at this particular case and ask yourself. What the hell are you horrified about?" said Solomon.

"Speaking slanderously of parents who lost their children in the genocide may be the kind of speech you want to stop. You want to chill the speech," Solomon said. "This is the message the jury wanted to send here, and that this is not acceptable in civilized society."

As for Jones, Raynal said he said he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. Among other things: Gad was ordered to pay the mayor of South Carolina $50 million in February after accusing him of committing crimes and incapacitating the mayor in an email. In 2016, a former tenant was ordered to pay $38.3 million for posting his website accusing real estate investors of running a Ponzi scheme. A New Hampshire mortgage lender ordered her three businessmen to pay her $274 million in 2017.

"This sort of damages and verdict certainly has a chilling effect," Volok said. "They are meant to have the cooling effect of lies that damage people's reputations."

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Trial of Alex Jones See the full AP article onhttps://apnews.com/hub/alex-jones