Freelancer finds that CNN's laser-focus on wiping out Alex Jones goes back a ways

As someone said in a tweet the other day, don’t make us defend Alex Jones. We don’t pay attention to Alex Jones, we rarely post about him (unless we’re ridiculing him for appearing shirtless on horseback or something), and we don’t consider him a conservative by any stretch.

But is it just us or is there some activist journalism going on over at CNN with the singular goal of purging Alex Jones and Infowars — and only Alex Jones and Infowars — from online existence? CNN first caught our eye with this:

Important to note that tech platforms did not enforce their own rules and take action against Alex Jones / InfoWars on their own accord.

It took media outlets to point out for weeks that InfoWars was skirting the rules on these tech platforms for them to enforce own standards.

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) August 6, 2018

As everyone on Twitter knows, there are plenty of people skirting the rules on these tech platforms — look at Dana Loesch’s mentions for one day if you want to see continual threats of violence.

But as Twitchy reported earlier today, it seemed that CNN was really pressuring Twitter — the sole tech holdout — to ban Jones by going through his timeline and pointing of instances of rule-breaking — and taking some glee in it. CNN was literally policing Twitter.

Update: All 20 of the tweets/videos in our story about how InfoWars / Alex Jones have violated Twitter standards have been deleted https://t.co/WpEZsLjr0i pic.twitter.com/skAmob4TfL

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) August 9, 2018

On Thursday evening, freelance journalist Nick Monroe took at closer look at CNN writer and producer Paul P. Murphy, who’s written a bunch of stories on Infowars for CNN. Sure, it’s easy to feel moral outrage at the Sandy Hook conspiracies Jones has been peddling, but is that what’s driving all this?

CNN discovered ads on InfoWars' channels from companies and organizations such as @Nike, @Acer , @20thcenturyfox, @paramountnet, @LDSchurch, @moen , @Expedia, @AlibabaGroup, @homeaway , the @NRA, Honey, @Wix and @classpass . Even @Refugees. https://t.co/7RbkWaKqGb

— Paul P. Murphy (@murphy) March 3, 2018

Oh! CNN "discovered" Alex Jones YouTube ads were running, and let these companies know that. https://t.co/sSKJAmNVlx pic.twitter.com/g4sLnvCv3q

— Nick Monroe (@nickmon1112) August 9, 2018

Here’s the highlighted bit: “Many of the brands — including Nike, Moen, Expedia, Acer, ClassPass, Honey, Alibaba and OneFamily — have suspended ads on InfoWars’ channels after being contacted by CNN for comment.”

Sure, this isn’t unusual territory for the investigative reporter at your local news affiliate, but it seems odd for CNN to take such an activist role in de-platforming an online entity.

In fact CNN kept in touch with these ad companies one-by-one as they removed ads off of the Info Wars YouTube channel…. ? pic.twitter.com/Ea4MtCnT9H

— Nick Monroe (@nickmon1112) August 9, 2018

> "repeated messages to press contact"
> story about how CNN "discovered" Alex Jones/Info Wars ads

I don't know a much more straightforward way of presenting a case of CNN exerting media pressure here. That's what this looks like. https://t.co/SqYHYCnC79 https://t.co/lxid7vSx6S pic.twitter.com/5fJ7CDUqhj

— Nick Monroe (@nickmon1112) August 9, 2018

To @murphy_paulp . I would like a copy of the multiple request for comment emails you sent to @Grammarly . My email is in my Twitter bio.

— Nick Monroe (@nickmon1112) August 9, 2018

Furthermore @murphy_paulp , I'd like to know why you failed to investigate The Young Turks for a similar vein of "Info Wars" style controversy when you were presented with it.

All you seem to care about is Alex Jones.https://t.co/cOeDoV0CRS pic.twitter.com/DG3FrjPYIN

— Nick Monroe (@nickmon1112) August 9, 2018

> **CNN breathing down the neck**
The sad part is there's probably more of these. https://t.co/nGnokDc5b8 https://t.co/S9pnSJRpy9 https://t.co/xrG7bTwdZi pic.twitter.com/tZjaGEWLvA

— Nick Monroe (@nickmon1112) August 10, 2018

(yup). https://t.co/v3vKcRxBfG pic.twitter.com/LEvrrBamD0

— Nick Monroe (@nickmon1112) August 10, 2018

As we reported too, CNN was not happy to learn that the Infowars app was still available on Apple’s and Google’s stores:

.@Apple and @Google did not respond to @CNN's inquiries about whether it was appropriate to list the conspiracy theory website in the same category as legitimate news organizations. https://t.co/rtBKspdKqj

— Paul P. Murphy (@murphy) August 6, 2018

It’s like we said earlier: we’re not really comfortable having someone other than Twitter police content on Twitter (they do a bad enough job), and we really don’t want CNN stepping into the role. Is this something CNN is going to be doing for other objectionable sites? Or is Jones’ scalp all they want?

Who knows? But Alex Jones is a really easy target to start with if de-platforming online personalities is going to become a thing. If they’re taking requests, though, we know of some celebrity 9/11 truthers and anti-vaxxers who could go. See how easy it is to pick who you’d like to see vanish?

It looks like @cnn 's @oliverdarcy has annointed himself the voluntary chief of the speech police. This is not reporting but despicable bloodthirsty hateful witch hunt. Where is free speech?

— Gina Bella (@ginabella) August 9, 2018

Very interesting thread about CNN acting as the media arm of a progressive silencing campaign, again. https://t.co/OCyziPsa6k

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) August 9, 2018

Anyone shocked wasn’t paying attention when CNN went after that guy for creating a meme.

And they wonder why nobody trusts them. #Bullies https://t.co/jEx2jq6gwY

— The?FOO (@PolitiBunny) August 10, 2018

So much for mass media being champions of free speech. They only champion freedom for their own monstrous megaphones. Everybody else keep quiet and let self-appointed "journalists" dominate our discourse. https://t.co/s5rE2Aljey

— Nick Szabo ? (@NickSzabo4) August 9, 2018

Prerequisite "Alex Jones ain't my thang" statement, but Nick Monroe has a very interesting thread going about CNN's seeming involvement in his removal. Worth a read. I can think of one thing more dangerous than Alex Jones' speech… the collusion of giant corporations to silence. https://t.co/HYu0zLawwo

— ??? ?????? ???? (@TheDesignFlaw) August 9, 2018

Great thread. And as I said earlier today, who's @CNN s next target? https://t.co/7ddAMGOqeN

— Deplorable Petr (@PragueArtist) August 10, 2018

I am *far* from an Alex Jones fan. He is loony and I judge people who consider themselves fans. BUT. It’s pretty pathetic that CNN is working so hard to get him kicked off social media. https://t.co/iaSsFOLdg7

— Patrick (@PMC713) August 10, 2018

Learn how CNN does activism instead of journalism… Thread ? https://t.co/iJt5iOhsJQ

— Dustin Templeton (@dtempleton_smb) August 10, 2018

Fascinating thread. You have to wonder who from Alex Jones camp pissed in CNN's cornflakes? or is it just a cesspool of bratty hall monitors gathered in one place in which case it won't be long before they turn on each other. https://t.co/1hysG38Lni

— Yvette the Smirker (@skinnyspiritual) August 10, 2018

But people booing Jim Acosta is a horrible attack on free press.
CNN is enemy of the people https://t.co/bXypvzhaFG

— LiberalDelusion (@Liberalism1984) August 9, 2018

Having cut their teeth by intimidating a random Reddit user into silence, far-left activist network @CNN has now brought its corporate resources to bear in the targeted harassment of a much bigger target.

But I'm sure this is normal "news organization" behavior. https://t.co/S1AaC2Kla0

— DJ (@DJNYified) August 9, 2018

https://twitter.com/PatedBears/status/1027689921610362880

Thank God CNN is there to stop people from voicing their opinions. #IronyMuch https://t.co/qtkIT6I1Py

— Mike Hulbig (@mhulbig) August 9, 2018

https://twitter.com/JamesMarkusWrit/status/1027682727682699264

@Jack @TwitterSupport How does this constitute @oliverdarcy *NOT* violating the Twitter rules on dogpiling? https://t.co/8gu7bjdjFK

— Another Savage (@incoherent_rage) August 9, 2018

Maybe Brian Stelter will explain all of this this weekend on “Reliable Sources?”

Related:

Hall monitors at work: Oliver Darcy, CNN scrub through Alex Jones' tweets after Twitter refuses to ban him https://t.co/baYJ0GJUm7

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 9, 2018