this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2024
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[–] Nobody@lemmy.world 118 points 5 months ago (7 children)

The liquidation of Jones’ assets does not mean that Infowars will cease to exist. Several outcomes are possible. The court-appointed trustee could sell the business to another owner, for instance.

Don’t celebrate too soon. Some shadowy investors are going to bail him out.

[–] Fisk400@feddit.nu 41 points 5 months ago (2 children)

The families are not super money motivated. They could just accept the company in the same way OJ Simpson lost his book rights.

Accept the company as payment and put up a youtube video of the set getting burned in the parking lot. After all infowars become a wikipage debunking every single lie told on the program.

[–] wolfpack86@lemmy.world 17 points 5 months ago (1 children)

But the brands value is in the personality. Killing info wars only creates an opportunity for him to create Schminfo Schwarz with little hiccup. Buying sets and whatnot with business partners is trivial. People make podcasts in their closets at home.

[–] Fisk400@feddit.nu 17 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That is always going to happen but losing the infowars brand is really bad and the cost of reestablishing a recognizable brand from basically scratch is very expensive and difficult. I would argue that losing the brand is worse for him than any other asset he has.

[–] Pfeffy@lemmy.world 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

The brand means nothing. It literally just means Alex Jones to everyone. If Alex Jones isnt on info wars then infowars dies. Wherever Jones goes he'll do the same thing and have the same audience.

[–] Fisk400@feddit.nu 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

People keep saying that but every time a chud gets deplatformed their numbers gets decimated. A lot follows you but not everyone and growth takes a massive hit because all the boomers finding the show on Facebook will try to go to infowars because that's where the 2 year old video is telling you to go.

Video backlog is fucked, SEO is fucked. They can go ahead and search for Alex Jones but you only get results of him getting fucked but not where to go because the new website doesn't have good standing yet with Google because nobody is linking to your new page.

[–] Pfeffy@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

He hasn't been deplatformed. He lost a brand name that is synonymous with himself. He can add a 2 to his web addresses and be right back where he is in a few days. Frankly all this attention he's getting from the media will probably just help him accomplish that. His listeners are total morons, but they are also addicted to his bullshit. Addicts find their shit, Even the dumb ones.

[–] Fisk400@feddit.nu 4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Losing your brand and website is being deplattfomed. People act like it's a binary thing where deplattforming either needs to wipe you off the face of the earth or it was pointless. The disruption will cost him viewers because while he sets up a new base his viewers will get bored and go to watch other things.

Not everyone will get bored, but enough people will move on for it to be a real concern for Alex Jones.

Ask any creator on the internet how bad a disruption in viewership is.

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Alex Jones is a hydra and Infowars is but one of his heads.

Infowars, itself, means nothing. Killing it will do no good.

He is the brand. And what's worse, his followers live for bad press.

[–] Pfeffy@lemmy.world 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Losing your brand and website is being deplattfomed. People act like it's a binary thing where deplattforming either needs to wipe you off the face of the earth or it was pointless

Sorry but words have meanings and he's lost no access to any platform as a result of this.

The disruption will cost him viewers because while he sets up a new base his viewers will get bored and go to watch other things.

I hope if this ever actually happens you'll come back and rub it in my face. I'm not going to bother taking a note because it isn't going to happen and you won't. In reality, every trump voter that didn't listen to Alex Jones already is going to watch the news and start regardless of whether it's on Infowars or Infowars. 2.

Ask any creator on the internet how bad a disruption in viewership is.

That's your job brother. You go ask some and come back and prove your point with their answers. It's not my job to try to beat my own point. I'm sure they don't like it but I also don't give a s***. Andrew Callaghan seems to have bounced back just fine.

And frankly, it's just silly for you to compare Alex Jones to YouTubers or whatever you are considering content creators to be.

[–] Fisk400@feddit.nu 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Lemmy really is just reddit with more tedious people.

[–] Pfeffy@lemmy.world 0 points 5 months ago

Don't call yourself that. You'll learn to look up what words mean someday. I'd be happy to help you finish 5th grade unlike those meanies on that website.

[–] billiam0202@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The brand means nothing. It literally just means Alex Jones to everyone. If Alex Jones isnt on info wars then infowars dies

Yep. Pop-quiz for anyone (not you, Knowledge Fight wonks!):

Can you name literally any other host who has a show on InfoWars, without looking up their names?

[–] Pfeffy@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

I'm a knowledge fight wonk but if I wasn't I'd say "that guy that failed to marry Christina Ricci"

The most devastating insult they could accomplish, if they’re simply handed his assets relatively untouched, is to turn it into a reputable, top-tier news organization. Now that would be delightfully karmic.

[–] formergijoe@lemmy.world 32 points 5 months ago (1 children)

He's been telling his listeners not to buy from his store, but to buy directly from his dad's website (who is a sponsor on his show and sells their "health" products though the show).

[–] PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 28 points 5 months ago (1 children)

For those who don’t get it: If they buy from the Infowars store, those assets can be seized. If they buy from his dad, the assets are protected because his dad wasn’t the one who got sued. It’s a very blatant asset-hiding scheme.

Imagine if the owner of a big brand were going bankrupt and had to sell off all of their assets, (including the holdings for the store.) So instead, they start telling people to buy from their dad’s store, which is virtually identical in every way and the only difference is that the money ends up in your dad’s account instead of yours. It’s intentionally poisoning the asset seizure, by refusing to continue operating as a shop prior to your bankruptcy.

[–] AutistoMephisto@lemmy.world 8 points 5 months ago

RICO charges for Jones?

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 12 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

I think it's more likely that someone else buys it for the audience it already has, not for Alex, and uses that for good or ill. It could end up as more of the same, or it could get much better or worse.

[–] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 5 months ago

Worst case the new owner employ Jones afterwards

[–] Fedizen@lemmy.world 10 points 5 months ago

The sandy hook families do have a say in this process (they turned down a "let jones use his ad revenue to pay them back" plan)

[–] suction@lemmy.world 7 points 5 months ago

Of course, there are many billionaires in the US who would spend what for them is nothing but small change to bail Jones out and setup a new operation for him. Musk, the Kochs, the Mercers, the list goes on.

[–] btaf45@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago

They should turn infowars into a conspiracy debunking site.

[–] ATDA@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

Ok or I could multiply my eggs before they hatch by hoping Soros or some other right wing boogie man buys it haha