Streaming service Roku defended its decision to add conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ InfoWars show to its platform as a supported channel in a public statement released on Tuesday. The response came in the wake of widespread anger on social media from its users.
The company told users that it was a neutral platform and that if any content was found to be in violation of its policies it would be removed.
“While the vast majority of all streaming on our platform is mainstream entertainment, voices on all sides of an issue or cause are free to operate a channel. We do not curate or censor based on viewpoint,” the company said.
A Twitter account called Sleeping Giants—operated by an activist campaign which targets companies that advertise on far-right shows and platforms—was first to flag Roku’s decision to host InfoWars early Tuesday.
.@RokuPlayer, can you confirm that you now have an Infowars channel?? https://t.co/M9xToyr533
— Sleeping Giants (@slpng_giants) January 15, 2019
From there outraged users pushed the #boycottroku hashtag on Twitter, prompting some to threaten to stop using the service altogether.
https://twitter.com/leighleighbird/status/1085185147295711232
@Roku just unplugged the box and going back to Apple TV. Infowars? Wow. Sad day you promote hate groups.
— rdk1960 (@rdk1960) January 15, 2019
Just last week, Jones and his media outlet were back in the news after being forced to hand over internal documents as part of a lawsuit with the Sandy Hook school shooting victims’ families.
When the tragedy took place, Jones alleged that the victims and their relatives were “crisis actors” and the entire massacre was a government false-flag operation. As a result, the families say they received death threats and were harassed.
It’s just one of the many conspiracy theories that Jones and his network have peddled.
As far as Roku is concerned, that past does not matter and Jones has not violated its company policies to date. However, it made clear it would take action if an incident were to arise.
What makes Roku’s move so strange is that it runs counter to how other media platforms have responded to InfoWars. Twitter, Facebook, Spotify, YouTube, Apple, Pinterest, YouPorn and LinkedIn all permanently banned the conspiracy show in quick succession last year.
Last week, the Daily Dot published an investigation revealing the ways InfoWars was trying to circumvent the bans.
After hearing that the streaming company, which has over 24 million registered users, would stand its ground on the matte, the attorney representing the Sandy Hook families issued a statement of his own.
“Roku’s shocking decision to carry Infowars and provide a platform for Alex Jones is an insult to the memory of the 26 children and educators killed at Sandy Hook… We call on Roku to realize this and immediately pull the program,” Josh Koskoff said. “There is no amount of anticipated revenue that could possibly justify Roku’s calculated decision.”
Update 7:50pm CT, Jan. 15: In the wake of significant backlash, Roku announced it was pulling InfoWars’ content and app from its service.
After the InfoWars channel became available, we heard from concerned parties and have determined that the channel should be removed from our platform. Deletion from the channel store and platform has begun and will be completed shortly.
— Roku (@Roku) January 16, 2019