Satirical newspaper The Onion has won a bid to purchase InfoWars, the controversial right-wing website known for promoting fake news stories.
InfoWars was founded by prominent conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in the late 90s. The 50-year-old Texan has pedalled a number of popular conspiracy theories throughout his career, including that the US government was behind the September 11 attacks and falsified the 1969 moon landing.
Shortly after the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school shootings, where 20 children and six staff were killed at a Connecticut school – Jones publicly said the massacre was “completely fake” and “manufactured”.
In 2018, families of the victims sued Jones after his claims, saying they had been subjected to years of torment and abuse at the hands of listeners to his show. Some families moved out of the town of Newtown, Connecticut (where the shooting occurred) due to feeling unsafe in their homes, while others reported that their personal information had been shared online.
In 2022, a Connecticut court ordered Jones to pay more than $1bn (£792m) in damages to the families, while a Texas court ruled Jones must pay almost $50m (£40m) to the parents of one victim.
In one court hearing before the verdicts, Jones acknowledged the massacre was “100 per cent real” and that he was “absolutely irresponsible” in claiming it was a hoax. While the actual payouts will be smaller due to state limits, Jones declared bankruptcy as the cases were being heard in court.
In June, a judge ordered that Jones’s personal assets – including a number of his multi-million dollar properties, cars and guns – should be liquidated. The judge also ordered that InfoWars should be liquidated at an auction. Jones has said he will broadcast on another platform.
The Onion – which parodies traditional news organisations through satirical articles – has bought the ill-fated conspiracy organisation. The media platform has said the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting backed the bid.
“By divesting Jones of Infowars’ assets, the families and the team at The Onion have done a public service and will meaningfully hinder Jones’ ability to do more harm,” Chris Mattei, a lawyer for the families of eight of the victims, said in a statement.
