US radio host Alex Jones’ hoax trials spotlight misinformation profiteer

American radio host Alex Jones reaped millions spouting conspiracy-laden falsehoods that helped drive up sales of products like libido boosters, exploiting an Internet ecosystem that experts say makes misinformation a lucrative business.

The serial provocateur, who founded the far-right website InfoWars, has been ordered to pay nearly US$1.5 billion S$2 billion) in damages for calling a 2012 mass shooting at an elementary school which left 20 first-graders and six adults dead a hoax”.

Defamation cases in Texas and Connecticut against Mr Jones have spotlighted the challenge of curbing misinformation on the Internet, where false and inflammatory content often spreads faster, generates more engagement and more revenue than the truth.

“The modern Internet business model consists of building an audience and then monetising that audience, either through ads, merchandise sales, or direct donation,” Mr Danny Rogers, co-founder of the non-profit Global Disinformation Index, told AFP.

“Alex Jones perfected that model by peddling the most adversarial narratives in the form of virulent conspiracy theories and unbridled anger, building a receptive audience, and then soaking that audience for profit.”