InfoWars could get booted off YouTube for peddling Parkland conspiracy theories

Youtube.
(Image credit: ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Getty Images)

InfoWars is just two strikes away from being kicked off YouTube for good after posting a video claiming the survivors of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting are "crisis actors," CNN reports. YouTube removed the offending video, titled "David Hogg Can't Remember His Lines In TV Interview," on Wednesday, citing the violation of its policies on harassment and bullying.

YouTube's guidelines state that if an account receives two strikes in a three-month period, it will be banned for two weeks, and if it receives two more strikes in three months, the account will be permanently banned. InfoWars founder Alex Jones has spread conspiracy theories about school shootings before, including claiming the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 was fake. Jones has said there is "officially … about a 90 percent chance" the attack in Florida was a "deep state false flag operation."

CNN reached out to YouTube after identifying three more instances of InfoWars pushing hoaxes on its account, and YouTube confirmed it would investigate. Of the Parkland video, a YouYube spokesperson said: "Last summer we updated the application of our harassment policy to include hoax videos that target the victims of these tragedies. Any video flagged to us that violates this policy is reviewed and then removed."

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Read more about why the Parkland conspiracy theories are different from ones that have come before at The Week.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.