It was just this last August that the founder of one of the biggest alternative media outlets Alex Jones, was wiped out from all social media platforms including over 30 thousand videos he had archived on his YouTube channel for over a decade.
Since then all other Infowars employees’ personal accounts remained relatively unscathed.
Until Saturday, when Alex Jones’s right-hand man, Owen Shroyer who is the host of War Room, was removed entirely from YouTube and Facebook.
According to Shroyer, no reason was given. It was an outright ban. He was first banned off YouTube where he normally streams videos. He then decided to open a Facebook account to stream live videos but that was banned as well in less than 24 hours. Apparently, all of this occurred with no specific reason which is strange in and of its self.
What preceded the ban was when he started a live stream about free speech censorship in America.
We have seen a number of conservatives in the past get penalized heavily for their live streaming including Alex Jones when hosting a live stream caused him to finally be removed off of Twitter.
Live streams are effective at engaging users, capturing their attention and going viral. It’s raw, it’s uncut and uncensored. When you are already speaking about controversial subjects that big tech platforms have a bias against, live streaming your thoughts may not be advised. You may end up becoming too influential.
Right next to Alex Jones when it comes to raving emotional rants that captivates so many viewers is Owen Shroyer, the second king. His presence and delivery style of messages is quite Jones-esque. And it’s effective. He hosts the second biggest show on Infowars and is promoted as Alex’s protégé.
Twitter has not yet banned Owen however. But as Owen continues his regular provocative live streams, like one he just did recently right after the ban arguing with protesters, blowing his horn and wearing a MAGA hat like he usually does, it may not last long.
An interesting situation is playing out though because Jack Dorsey the CEO of Twitter and his policy head Vijaya Gadde just went on the Joe Rogan experience and preached kindness and fairness on their platform for 3 hours straight.
Imagine after saying all that and then banning Owen just shortly after YouTube and Facebook did. That can make the conspiracy look all too real, especially when all Owen has been doing lately is just being his usual self.
Twitter was the last to ban Alex Jones. The turn around time, however, wasn’t very long. In a matter of weeks, after all the social media and big tech companies censored him, Twitter turned around and did the same. The tiny gap period did not really help much. It just merely served as an illusion to make them seem like the more honest ones.
Twitter does seem to be following some sort of interesting PR campaign recently. As they have been going from interview to interview, talking on several conservative/libertarian news outlets to preach how they do not try censor but rather fight for fairness and equality.
At the end of the day, Twitter bans conservatives all the way across the board. They can say they don’t pick on certain ideologies and they can be the last ones to ban certain conservatives, but they always end up doing so anyway, and actions speak louder than words. Unfortunately for Owen, this does not span out good grounds for his future to personally live stream or broadcast in the future ever again.
“By going live tonight, I am now risking this tool, as if I am a carpenter risking my final hammer because I am so obsessed with completing a job. I don’t even have to do this folks. Nobody is making me do this. Alex isn’t making me do this; Rob Dew isn’t on my neck telling me to put out content, that’s not what this is. I am doing this because I love this country and I believe this content can change people’s minds.” – Owen Shroyer
Looking at the track record it does seem unlikely that he will remain on Twitter. Although this can seem like yet another big blow to conservative voices on the internet, keep in mind that Owen is still a part of Infowars.
Infowars is its own media empire now. The more Infowars employees they exile, the more the attention and audience funnel into Infowars.
For the time being at least, Alex, Owen and the entire Infowars crew can upload and archive videos on their website, where it can remain safe. Now they can perhaps focus more on producing content solely for Infowars, to make Infowars the crown jewel of news content.
