"Rightwing conspiracy fabulist Alex Jones has petitioned the US supreme court to block a massive defamation judgment imposed after he argued that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting in which 20 children and six adults were killed was a hoax. In a filing to the US high court, Jones asked the justices to act immediately to prevent his website InfoWars from being handed over to the satirical news site The Onion."
"The publication bought InfoWars at a bankruptcy auction last year after offering $1.75m in cash along with an approximately $5m credit from the families of the shooting victims who had won a $1.4bn defamation and emotional distress lawsuit against Jones. The court is set to discuss his appeal in private on Friday. Jones's request is the latest in a series of appeals, both against the judgment and against the sale of InfoWars."
"Jones has apologized for making the false claim, and told a court he understands it was irresponsible of him and that he believes the attack was 100% real. Lawyers for Jones argue that he should be afforded first amendment considerations, citing the size of his audience of viewers and listeners. At its peak in 2016, Jones claimed a daily radio audience of 5 million people and over 80m monthly video impressions, along with around 10m visits to the InfoWars website."
"In the filing, Jones's lawyers argued that failure to reverse this case will mean all journalists will realize that they could be found liable for huge defamation awards, especially in ideologically divergent geographic regions, as Jones was and therefore refrain from publishing for fear of being hauled into court there facing a trial by sanction'. If the case is not put on hold, InfoWars will have been acquired by its ideological nemesis and destroyed, Jones's lawyers wrote."
Alex Jones has petitioned the US Supreme Court to block enforcement of a massive defamation judgment and to prevent InfoWars from being transferred to The Onion. The Onion acquired InfoWars at a bankruptcy auction after offering $1.75m cash plus an approximate $5m credit from families who won a $1.4bn defamation and emotional distress award. Jones has apologized, told a court he believes the Sandy Hook attack was real, and argued for First Amendment protections, citing his large audience. Jones's lawyers warn the judgment could chill journalism nationwide and say the sale would hand InfoWars to an ideological nemesis.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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