Alex Jones, the operator of the controversial conspiracy-theorist empire Infowars, is having another bout of bad media luck.The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) kicked a pirate radio station known for rebroadcasting Jones off Austin’s airwaves on Wednesday and handed the station’s operators a $15,000 penalty, according to the Austin-American Statesman. The operators had refused to pay as of late Wednesday.
The Genesis Communications Network still carries Jones’ show to affiliates across the country. He’s said that 160 broadcasters nationwide carry his show.The FCC’s move comes right on the heels of Jones being banned from Twitter for seven days. Twitter said late Tuesday that it had blocked Jones from using his personal account to tweet after he appeared in a Periscope video telling viewers to get their “battle rifles” ready against antifa and other foes.
The pirate station, Liberty Radio, was accused of operating at 90.1 FM without federal consent since 2013, according to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Austin. FCC agents traced the signal to a maintenance or utility room in an East Austin apartment complex owned by an entity linked to Walter Olenick and M. Rae Nadler-Olenick, who are listed as defendants in the federal lawsuit over Liberty Radio, according to the American-Statesman.
According to a message on the radio station’s website, Liberty Radio hasn’t aired since December 2017 but still streams online “due to circumstances beyond our control.”
By now, Jones is probably getting used to bad news. He’s been nixed from Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, Apple’s iTunes, and Spotify for violating their policies. But his Infowars app is still available from the Apple and Google app stores, and he’s streaming via his website Infowars.com.Correction: Liberty Radio is a pirate station that simply re-broadcasts Alex Jones. This piece was updated at 7:30 p.m. EST to reflect that distinction.Cover image: Conspiracy theorist, radio talk show host and Infowars.net founder Alex Jones walks up Elm Street past the spot where U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dealey Plaza in 1963 one day before commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the assassination in Dallas, Texas, U.S., November 21, 2013. (REUTERS/Jim Bourg/File Photo)