(CNN)InfoWars, a far-right media organization run by Alex Jones and known for peddling unfounded conspiracy theories, is on thin ice with YouTube after it posted a video that portrayed the survivors of the Parkland school shooting as actors.
The
Alex Jones Channel, Infowar's biggest YouTube account, received
one strike for that video, a source with knowledge of the
account told CNN. YouTube's community guidelines say if an
account receives three strikes in three months, the account is
terminated.
That
video focused on David Hogg, a strong voice among survivors of
the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The
attention has given him a powerful platform -- but it has also
made him the
subject of demonstrably false conspiracy theories that
claim he is so simply too skilled as public speakers not to be a
paid actor.
On
Wednesday, YouTube removed the video from InfoWars' page for
violating its policies on harassment and bullying. The video was
titled, "David Hogg Can't Remember His Lines In TV Interview."
YouTube
has removed the video, "David Hogg Can't Remember His
Lines In TV Interview."
It
used screenshots of an interview Hogg did with with CNN
affiliate KCBS, in combination with other images, in an attempt
to suggest that Hogg and other students are "crisis actors."
The
term refers to people who are paid to play disaster victims in
emergency drills. More recently, though, the phrase has been
co-opted by conspiracy theorists who claim mass shootings are
events staged to achieve a political goal.
InfoWars
repeatedly showed its 2.2 million YouTube subscribers the
video before it was taken down.
"Last
summer we updated the application of our harassment policy to
include hoax videos that target the victims of these
tragedies," said a YouTube spokesperson. "Any video flagged to
us that violates this policy is reviewed and then removed."
But
CNN has identified three YouTube videos from InfoWars that
cite such hoaxes and asked if they also violated YouTube's
policies. The YouTube spokesperson said the videos sent in by
CNN were flagged to the policy team for review on Thursday
evening.
YouTube's
community guidelines say if the account receives one more
strike in a three-month period, it will not be able to post
new content for two weeks.
If
the account receives two more strikes in three months, it will
be terminated.
A
source with knowledge of InfoWars' account says all YouTube
accounts, including InfoWars', are subject to the community
guidelines.
InfoWars
founder Alex Jones is known for spreading the conspiracy that
the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown,
Connecticut, in 2012 was fake. Of Parkland, he acknowledges
that "real people were shot." But Jones repeatedly implied
Hogg and others are crisis actors. He also said in a February
15 video posted on YouTube that he could "officially say that
it's about a 90 percent chance" the Florida shooting was a
"deep state false flag operation."
Conspiracy
believers think false flags are government operations that
seek to divert or steer public discussion and policy.
CORRECTION: The headline of
this piece has been updated to more accurately reflect the
fact that InfoWars' main YouTube channel is two strikes away
from being banned from YouTube.
