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The Onion buys Infowars

nytimes.com

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Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#301

Post by sofixa »

ackbar03 wrote: post #214
plorg wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The auction included all of the InfoWars and several associated corporations' assets, including the studio and the supplements business. At one point the settlement administrator was trying to get Alex's Twitter handle. I believe he's been doing some half-ass scheming to create essentially the same company but in his parents' name, and I doubt he has a problem getting listeners back.

... Infowars had a supplements business?

Of course, it's random nonsense peddling, how else would it fund itself other than via a obvious grift? If you're gullible enough to watch Alex Jones and believe him, you're gullible enough to buy snake oil to increase your penis.

Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#302

Post by jantissler »

diggan wrote: post #206
tgv wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wonderful news. I'm glad their CEO recognizes the great value of CEOs. My only worry is that this acquisition makes Global Tetraeder so large that it attracts the attention of those pesky EU bureaucrats, who will want to split it up into multiple imperfect solids.

> My only worry is that this acquisition makes Global Tetraeder so large that it attracts the attention of those pesky EU bureaucrats, who will want to split it up into multiple imperfect solids. Based on what previous in-real-life examples is this a realistic worry? AFAIK, "EU bureaucrats" haven't broken up a single US-based company before so seems like a weird thing to be worried about.

It almost feels like a joke to be honest!

Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#305

Post by moate »

3D30497420 wrote: post #149
lenerdenator wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Somewhat ironic since The Onion could be brought down in the same way by defamation lawsuits. Unlikely. It's worth remembering that Jones was never actually tried for defamation. He instead received a default judgment. In the US, both sides of a civil case have the right to a fair and speedy trial. If there's delays, you had better have a good reason for them and they need to fit the rules of procedure. Jones and h…

IANAL, but I'd also imagine there's a difference between clear satire and something being presented as the truth. Additionally, The Onion generally goes after public figures while Infowars, in this case, was targeting private individuals. Not sure how either of these have bearing in the legal sense, but could be important factors. Of course, in a politicized legal context, these points may not matter since legal acti…

>>I'd also imagine there's a difference between clear satire and something being presented as the truth. There is, and the 1st amendment's coverage of Parody/Satire is very well documented. The Onion has always made it clear that it's fake news, Infowars fought tooth and nail to say they're allowed to say their "truth" even if it's harmful lies. When you can prove that someone believes the damaging bullshit they're saying (not always easy!) they get their dick kicked in.

To your other point, "a well-financed bad actor could ruin any business with enough SLAPP lawsuits" falls away because anti-SLAPP laws exist and award damages if you push too hard.

Do perfectly good people get ruined through litigation? Sure. Is it the epidemic that grifters trying to sway public opinion in their favor make it out to be? Highly unlikely.

Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#306

Post by kristopolous »

Hikikomori wrote: post #244
bbor wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh man, you're in for a treat. Look up some videos on youtube, the classic being John Oliver's 2017 piece; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyGq6cjcc3Q . He's adjacent to the newly mainstream right, yes, but he's been around for a long time as a more radical+fringe actor, and has all the baggage that goes along with that. A good portion (most?) of his money was made from selling vaguely anti-GMO and pro-masculinity pr…

And the Knowledge Fight podcast if you really, really wanna get into it. Almost 1000 episodes now. https://knowledgefight.com Behind the bastards also has a few that are good summaries if you want something shorter, with the Knowledge Fight guys as guests.

Whatever episode they're making right now is going to be great.

Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#307

Post by Taters91 »

nixdev wrote: post #116
Taters91 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The court system worked very well in this case. A set of parents brought a civil lawsuit against a well-known man who was spreading what they thought were lies and inflicting emotional distress. Jones had plenty of time to respond, and he decided not to. Therefore, the case was decided in default, as is the way all civil cases would have been. Then, a jury of his peers was brought in to decide on the size of the pena…

[flagged]

Discovery isn't just giving over random documents. It's about giving over the documents that are requested by the other side. So giving more documents than they ask for is actually a hinderence. And the case was not about specific documents, it was the overall actions. Because of the "consistent pattern of discovery abuse" (quoting the decision), the parents could not see that evidence.

As for the larger point, in public opinion, most people see Jones getting what he deserves. He lied over and over again, caused harm to many families, and is now getting punished for it. He did this while knowing he was lying.

I'm also interested in what way during trial Bankston made himself look bad or anti-first amendment or against justice.

Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#308

Post by kristopolous »

jsheard wrote: post #2

The announcement by America's Finest News Source: https://theonion.com/heres-why-i-decided-to-buy-infowars/ Alex Jones response: https://x.com/RealAlexJones/status/1857058831135645739

I like the twitter comments. They're already baking how it's part of the secret globalist plot.

See also https://reddit.com/r/QAnonCasualties/ if you haven't yet.

Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#309

Post by shagie »

vman81 wrote: post #192
lenerdenator wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Somewhat ironic since The Onion could be brought down in the same way by defamation lawsuits. Unlikely. It's worth remembering that Jones was never actually tried for defamation. He instead received a default judgment. In the US, both sides of a civil case have the right to a fair and speedy trial. If there's delays, you had better have a good reason for them and they need to fit the rules of procedure. Jones and h…

Jones' lawyers at one point forwarded a full phone dump of Jones' phone by accident to opposing council. They of course notified Jones' lawyers immediately to ask if this was a mistake that they should delete/disregard, as was their right. Jones' lawyers promptly ignored this, or didn't understand what was going on, resulting it becoming fair game after X days had passed. This goody bag of text messages and pictures…

Legal Eagle (among many others I suspect - that's just the channel I tend to follow for pop legal) did a breakdown of that clip explaining what was going on for the layperson: https://youtu.be/x-QcbOphxYs

Re: The Onion buys Infowars

#310

Post by avgDev »

reaperducer wrote: post #173
Maken wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haven't you seen the DOGE department yet?

Haven't you seen the DOGE department yet? How do you make government smaller? Step 1: Make government bigger by inventing a new department! (Strictly speaking, it's not a government department. It is a private entity that will operate outside the government, and influence the president. What could possibly go wrong?)

Nothing screams efficiency like 2 dept heads.
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