Alex Jones addresses a pro-Trump crowd on Jan. 6, the day of the U.S. Capitol riot. Jones is widely known for his support of baseless and often bigoted conspiracy theories, and he has been banned from many tech platforms, though not Amazon.
Jon Cherry/Getty Images The far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has been banned from Facebook, Apple, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Spotify and even PayPal for violating those sites' policies against hate speech. But Jones continues to have a platform to sell expensive dietary supplements through one of the world's biggest online retailers: Amazon.
Just as Amazon provides massive third-party sellers — such as Starbucks, Coca-Cola or Apple — with their own online storefronts, Jones' Infowars Store has a home on the site, too. There, he sells products such as "Super Male Vitality" drops, "Lung Cleanse Plus Spray" and "Prostaguard" pills.
"Thank you for supporting the Infowar!" the storefront states above its listings, suggesting that Jones is not just selling supplements but providing a path for consumers to fund his extremist causes. Meanwhile, Amazon provides support to Jones and gets a percentage of all the sales — called a "referral fee" — as it does with all third-party sellers. For supplements priced over $10, the referral fee is 15%.
Neither Amazon nor Jones responded to NPR's requests for comment.