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Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has had his account on X, formerly Twitter, reinstated by its owner Elon Musk more than five years after he was banned from the platform.
The move to restore Jones' account arrived after Musk asked his followers on X whether the InfoWars host, best known for spreading hoaxes and misinformation about 9/11 and the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, should have his account reinstated in a poll.
Musk uploaded the X poll, along with "Vox Populi, Vox Dei," quoting the Latin phrase meaning "the voice of the people is the voice of god." The poll received nearly 2 million votes in 17 hours, with more than 70 percent of responders answering "yes."
"The people have spoken and so it shall be," Musk posted in response to the poll results.
Jones' account, which had been banned in September 2018 for violating the platform's abusive behavior policy, was restored on X in the early hours of Sunday, December 10.
Musk had been weighing up whether to restore Jones's account on X after the InfoWars host issued a video message urging the Tesla and SpaceX CEO to allow him back on the platform ahead of Jones' interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, which was broadcast on X on Thursday.
"Elon Musk says he's a free-speech absolutist but still hasn't let me back on Twitter with my own channel," Jones said. "I'm not even mad at Elon Musk, I understand he's done as much as he thinks he can. But I hope Elon will watch this interview and actually hear from me why I was really banned on Twitter before he bought it, not for the false reasons he's given."
Musk also responded to several right-wing figures on X who were demanding that he allow Jones back on the site—as Musk had done with several other people who were previously banned on the platform in the wake of his $44-billion takeover, including former president Donald Trump—to suggest he was open to letting Jones back on the platform.
In November 2022, soon after Trump's account was restored, Musk said he would never allow Jones back while citing the conspiracy theories he had made about the Sandy Hook massacre, in which 20 children and six adults were killed. These claims included that the shooting never happened and that grieving parents were crisis actors.
"My firstborn child died in my arms. I felt his last heartbeat," Musk posted in response to Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom. "I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics, or fame."
Dotcom, born Kim Schmitz, welcomed Jones back to X in a post on Sunday.
"Expose the WEF (World Economic Forum) globalists and their puppets. Focus on the US proxy war in Ukraine and the US-backed war criminals in Israel. Tell the world about the unholy alliance between Democrats, Big Tech, and the Deep State," he wrote. "Leave school shootings to others."
Musk also decided to reinstate Trump's account after posing a question on whether he should be in an X poll. Trump's account was suspended in the wake of the January 6 attack over fears he would use the platform to incite further violence.
The poll received more than 15 million votes, with 51.8 percent of users saying that Trump should be allowed to have his Twitter account back.
"The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei," Musk posted, quoting the same Latin phrase to confirm Jones' account will be restored.
Trump has only posted on X once since his account was restored in November 2022 to share his mugshot in August from Fulton County Jail, Georgia, along with a fundraising link. Instead, the former president is continuing to frequently post on his own social media platform, Truth Social.