Twitter Permanently Bans Alex Jones

(RTTNews) - Twitter has permanently banned controversial conspiracy theory broadcaster Alex Jones from its platform, a day after he faced his accusers in Washington, DC.

The Infowars founder on Wednesday showed up to the congressional hearings where Twitter and Facebook heads were testifying on censorship and foreign interference in US elections. He posted videos online showing himself verbally confronting a CNN reporter and Republican Senator Marco Rubio in a Congressional hallway.

In a statement on its @TwitterSafety account Thursday, Twitter said, "We permanently suspended @realalexjones and @infowars from Twitter and Periscope" based on new reports of tweets and videos posted Wednesday "that violate our abusive behavior policy, in addition to the accounts' past violations."

InfoWars is Alex Jones' far-right website.

Twiiter added that "As we continue to increase transparency around our rules and enforcement actions, we wanted to be open about this action given the broad interest in this case."

The social media giant warned that it will "continue to evaluate reports we receive regarding other accounts potentially associated with @realalexjones or @infowars and will take action if content that violates our rules is reported or if other accounts are utilized in an attempt to circumvent their ban".

Twitter last month had banned Alex Jones from its platform for one week for sharing a link to a video calling on his supporters to get their "battle rifles" ready against media and others.

Twitter is the latest major US tech firm to have denied Jones permission to use its platform. They have been under pressure to remove Jones following similar moves by fellow tech giants Facebook, YouTube, Spotify and Apple in August.

Since founding InfoWars in 1999, Jones has built a vast audience.

Among the theories he has promoted is that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were staged by the US government.

The anti-Democrat radio show host had accused victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting of being "actors" in a plot to discredit the gun lobby.