In November, the satirical newspaper won a bankruptcy auction to buy The Onion Info, a website dedicated to hawking anti-government conspiracy theories. On Wednesday, however, a federal bankruptcy judge rejected the purchase on the grounds that the auction was not conducted in a transparent enough fashion and did not produce as much revenue as it could have.
At stake in this case is the future control of Infowars, which was started by right-wing commentator Alex Jones. The site has spread false information and conspiracies about a variety of topics, including the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, and the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Depending on the next steps, Onion could still successfully complete its acquisition, Jones could effectively find a way to retain control of the site, or the trustee overseeing the case could decide on another option entirely.
To make its bid, The Onion’s parent company, Global Tetrahedron, joined family members of the Sandy Hook shooting victims, who have been frequent targets of conspiracy theories from the InForce. D Purchase targetAccording to a press release in November, “an end to the infomercial’s relentless misinformation for the sake of selling supplements and replacing it with The Onion’s relentless humor”.
In a statement Wednesday morning, Onion CEO Ben Collins reiterated that publication would take place Infowars continues to achieve and “seek a resolution that helps the Sandy Hook families find a positive outcome for the horrors they endured.”
How Infowars got here – and what comes next
Infowars was founded in 1999 and established itself as an outlet that promoted right-wing ideas about numerous tragedies. It featured claims that September 11 was an “inside job” that the 2011 Tucson, Arizona, shooting of U.S. Representative Gabby Gifford was a part of. Government mind control campaignAnd that The government was involved in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
Jones is widely credited with Normalizing the spread of conspiracies in the right-wing media ecosystem, due in large part to the reach of his website, and later, a radio broadcast and web show.
After the mass shooting at Sandy Hook, Jones suggested the attack was a “hoax”. The children who died were still alive and their parents were paid actors who were in the setup. “Why does the government stage these things – to get our guns!” He claimed, repeatedly arguing, that the shooting was a staged attempt to advance gun control policies.
Fueled Jones’ lies Massive harassment and abuse of family members of children and adults killed at Sandy Hook, prompting him to sue for defamation. In 2022, a court determined that Jones must pay these families a total of $1.5 billion in damages for his lies and the damages they caused.
That same year, Jones filed for bankruptcy protection for his personal assets and his company Free Speech Systems, which includes Infosys. In June, US Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez ordered Jones to liquidate his personal assets to begin paying Sandy Hook’s family; in September, Lopez endorsed an auction for Infowars.
That auction took place in November, and only two parties submitted bids: The Onion, and First United American, a Web retailer that sells nutritional supplements under Jones’ name. Onion’s bid was $1.75 million in cash and included additional assets, while First United American’s was $3.5 million in cash. The trustee overseeing the auction, Christopher Murray, concluded that the Onion’s bid was overvalued, and reached nearly $7 million due to additional assets. Some of these assets included pledges from the Sandy Hook family, who agreed to give up a portion of the proceeds from the auction otherwise.
His rejection of the contract, Lopez concluded that The auction did not generate much funding It could have its beneficiaries, as it was not conducted in an open process where two parties could compete against each other. “It seemed almost doom from the moment they decided on a sealed bid,” Lopez said. “No one knows what anyone else is bidding.”
Because of that, he ordered Murray to come up with an alternative plan. What form this might take is not yet clear, however Another auction will not be held.
The outcome of the sale will decide whether The Onion is able to completely rebuild Infowars into a new outlet — which Collins said in November.Cosmic jokes” — and cease efforts to spread false propaganda, or if any entity associated with Jones may attempt to maintain its existing operations. Another possibility is the Sandy Hook families Receive information as part of settlement They still haven’t accepted, the Associated Press reported. Collins said that if The Onion is able to buy the site, it wants to transform its content and bring in gun control advocacy groups. Everytown is its sole advertiser for gun safety.
