Following his trial for defamation of the families of the children and school staff killed in the Sandy Hook massacre, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is using Valve Corp.’s Steam, the world’s largest digital distribution platform for PC games, to sell an Infowars-themed video game. Jones claims to have earned hundreds of thousands in revenue from the video game, yet he has refused to pay the Sandy Hook families. Alex Jones: NWO Wars also mirrors and cartoonishly repackages the conspiracy theorist’s regularly violent, hateful rhetoric despite the platform’s policies against hate speech.
Who said they weren’t?
If some fool killed Jones, his followers would say his name for generations, talking about how he was killed by the deep state for telling the truth. They would spread his words further and more than they do now. People who don’t think much about him, or people who think he’s probably full of shit but like to listen to him for fun, and entertain his ideas a little, would suddenly take him more seriously, becoming followers as well. People who would argue against his lies now, will feel uncomfortable speaking out. For at least a while, anyone who tried to debunk his views would suddenly be painted as disrespecting the dead, at best, and viewed with suspicion. What it’s possible to talk about would shift right, extremism and conspiracy theories becoming more acceptable, facts and reason becoming less so. In the midst of it all, some new spokesperson for the lunatic fringe would rise up and replace him seamlessly.
And maybe they are cowards, but cowards are motivated by fear, and people motivated by fear often lash out violently.