“If I had a guest come to my house only to begin spewing anti-Semitic and hate-filled nonsense in the middle of my living room I would tell them to leave; they would not be invited back.”
So, there's a trend I've been seeing lately in posts attributed to fans of the Alt-Right and QAnon believers; the removal of Info Wars from three major information aggregators (Apple Podcasts, Youtube and Facebook) is a systematic attack on free speech.
Here's the thing, it isn't.
The First Amendment to the US Constitution prevents the government from silencing individuals and the media; it protects against government censorship. The First Amendment does not, however, extend to tying the hands of private entities and individuals from choosing what they do and do not want to be on their private platform.
That's a clear distinction that these seething malcontents are missing — a distinction you would expect hardcore conservatives would have a better understanding of; what constitutes the difference between public and private.
Individuals make decisions every day as to what they choose to say or not to say, what to think and write and project into this world by any mechanism available for them to communicate. Individual private entities like Apple or Facebook also have guidelines they can choose to abide by — they just have the benefit of having those guidelines available to be read and understood by their users. By using the platforms offered by these various companies, participants have to agree to these house rules. If these rules are violated, these companies reserve the right to tell the offending party to leave.
If I had a guest come to my house only to begin spewing anti-Semitic and hate-filled nonsense in the middle of my living room I would tell them to leave; they would not be invited back.
While I do not want to fall into the trap of conflating corporations with people — I have happily held a door open for someone without asking for payment first — I will stand by this simple comparison in this situation. The reason being, I do not believe Alex Jones fanatics possess the mental acumen to process a concept any more complex than what I offered.
So, no; Alex Jones's rights have not been violated. Alex Jones has not been removed from his soapbox. Alex Jones has just had his megaphone significantly reduced in volume, thank god.