Paul Joseph Watson

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Paul Joseph Watson
Paul Joseph Watson.jpg
Watson in 2013
Personal information
Born (1982-05-24) 24 May 1982 (age 40)[1]
Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
Residence London, England[2]
Occupation Writer, editor, YouTube personality
YouTube information
Pseudonym PJW, Paul J. Watson, PropagandaMatrix (formerly), Anything Goes
Channel name PrisonPlanetLive
Years active 2011–present (as a YouTuber)
Genre Political criticism
American conservatism
Subscribers 1.59 million
Total views 369 million
Subscriber and view counts updated as of 25 January 2019.

Paul Joseph Watson (born 24 May 1982 in Sheffield, Yorkshire) is an English YouTube personality, radio host and writer.[3][4][5][6]

Watson's career emerged through his work for American conservative radio host Alex Jones as editor-at-large of Jones' website InfoWars. Watson also contributes to Infowars' talk radio program The Alex Jones Show, where he occasionally either hosts or co-hosts. Watson has been working on Infowars.com since October 2002.[7]

Since 2011, Watson has hosted his own YouTube channel, prisonplanetlive, from which he expresses his views on contemporary society and politics. He describes his channel as “Culture, controversy, contrarianism” and often lampoons celebrities and politicians. As of January 2019, his channel has over 1.59 million subscribers.[8][9]

In April 2019, Facebook barred Watson from using its Facebook and Instagram services.[10][11]

Politics

Watson described his formative moment as when, at the age of 18, he watched The Secret Rulers of the World, a documentary in which journalist Jon Ronson accompanied Alex Jones in infiltrating Bohemian Grove, a location where global elites allegedly meet to plot the New World Order. Regarding conspiracy theories, he has stated that 10 years ago he "had some silly beliefs," but that the focus of his career was always more on countering misinformation from mainstream media.[12]

Watson previously described himself as a libertarian, and supported Ron Paul in the 2012 U.S. presidential election. In a 2016 tweet, he said he no longer considered himself a libertarian because Gary Johnson "made the term an embarrassment."[13] Watson has also referred to himself as a conservative, and he considers modern day conservatism to be a counter-cultural movement.[14] He characterizes himself on Twitter as a "high Tory."[15] In a post to Facebook in November 2016, Watson differentiated between the "New Right," which identifies with, and the alt-right. He claims that the alt-right "likes to fester in dark corners of sub-reddits and obsess about Jews, racial superiority and Adolf Hitler," while the New Right is a more diverse group who supported Trump in 2016.[16]

On 16 June 2018, Watson announced that he had joined the UK Independence Party along with Mark Meechan and Carl Benjamin.[17][18][19]

Christmas

Watson supports Christian holidays. He has accused Tesco of "erasing" Christmas from their stores, implying that they were participating in the so-called war on Christmas.[20]

Feminism

In July 2018 Watson signed "The Non-Feminist Declaration",[21] which includes the phrase "Given the extent of feminist entrenchment in institutions, we recognize that we are embarking on a project that may last for decades, but we shall not waver in our determination to roll back feminist influence over state and other institutions."[22]

Immigration

Watson is critical of mass immigration.[23][24] He has claimed[25] that "Malmö is known as ‘Sweden’s Chicago’" due to mass immigration into Nordic countries.[26]

Islam

Watson is critical of radical Islam.[23][27][28] He has labelled Muslim culture as "horrific" and declared that it produces mass rape, "Islamic ghettos" and the destruction of Western culture.[24] Watson has said that the western world needs "Islam control" rather than gun control. Watson wrote in an Infowars article that "Muslims living in both the Middle East and the west show alarmingly high levels of support for violent jihad."[29] He stated that there is "violent oppression of gays and Christians in the Middle East".[30] In August 2017, he claimed that YouTube had blocked monetization on all his videos about Islam.[31]

President Trump

Although he endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, Watson declared in a tweet on 6 April 2017 he was "officially OFF the Trump train" following the president's decision to launch missile strikes on Syria in response to a gas attack several days earlier, believing Trump had reneged on his promise to not intervene in Syria. After a decrease in Twitter followers occurred, he denied he had "turned on Trump," saying he was "off the Trump train in terms of Syria."[32] He declared in a separate tweet he would shift his focus to ensuring French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen of the National Front would be elected in the 2017 election, in which she was ultimately defeated.[33]

Race and ethnicity

Watson has criticised perceived racial tokenism.[34] In 2017, he attacked the BBC for "portraying Roman Britain as ethnically diverse", after the broadcaster included a black Roman centurion in an educational cartoon.[35]

Social Media

Watson advocates for Facebook to be stripped of its immunity to lawsuits as granted by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. He argues that in choosing to ban users based on their views, it is acting as a publisher, and thus cannot be considered merely a platform as required by Section 230.[36][37]

In the media

In 2016, he was an early proponent of the allegations that Hillary Clinton suffers from numerous serious medical conditions. Watson's commentary was covered in the mainstream media as part of a discussion of the role of rumour and conspiracy theory in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[38][3][39]

In February 2017, he tweeted an offer to pay for a journalist to visit Sweden and stay in the "crime ridden migrant suburbs" of Malmö, if they thought it would be safe.[40] Many journalists took him up on the offer,[40][41] and Watson chose New York journalist and videographer Tim Pool, who was already planning a similar investigation.[42] Watson provided US$2,000 to Pool for the trip.[40][42] Tim Pool also ran a fundraiser to fund an investigation into other 'no-go zones' in other areas of Sweden and Europe.[42]

At a White House press briefing in November 2018, CNN reporter Jim Acosta posed a question to President Trump concerning the migrant caravan then approaching from Central America. After hearing Trump's answer, Acosta refused to yield the microphone, instead insisting he be allowed to ask "one other" question. An intern attempted to take the microphone from Acosta's hand, which he resisted. Acosta made physical contact with the intern's arm in the process.[43][44][45] Acosta's White House press credentials were subsequently revoked for "placing his hands" on the intern.[46][47] Watson uploaded a version of the footage of the incident[46] which White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders pointed to as clearly documenting Acosta's "inappropriate behaviour."[48] Several sources alleged that the footage had been altered or "doctored" to exaggerate Acosta's motions, although Watson characterized charges that he had altered the video as a "brazen lie."[46][49][47] Some experts concluded that differences between the original video of the incident from C-SPAN and the version posted by Watson do not necessarily represent deliberate manipulation but could be the result of artefacts resulting from accidental degradation during processing.[49][50]

Watson has been described as a member of "the new far-right" by The New York Times, who wrote in August 2017 that his "videos are straightforward nativist polemics, with a particular focus on Europe" and also noted his opposition to modernist architecture and modern art.[51] Iman Abou Atta, the director of the anti-Islamophobia group Tell MAMA, has said that "Paul Joseph Watson has become 'the' nexus for anti-Muslim accounts that we have mapped..."[52]

Deplatforming

On May 2, 2019, Watson and several other people, including Nation of Islam founder Louis Farrakhan as well as Jones and right-wing commentators Milo Yiannopoulos and Laura Loomer, were permanently banned from Facebook, which called them "dangerous." "We've always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology," a Facebook spokesperson said.[53] Watson was given neither justification nor notification of the ban and states that he has never advocated violence or hatred or otherwise broken any of the platform's rules.[54][37] He has vowed to take legal action which he believes will force Facebook to disclose the specific reasoning behind the action.[37]

References

  1. ↑ Macbain, Hamish (1 March 2017). "Are these the faces of London's young 'alt-right'?". Evening standard magazine.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  2. ↑ Hamill, Jasper (1 December 2017). "Right-wing YouTuber Paul Joseph Watson says video site is 'censoring' him and slams its reporting system as 'broken'". Metro. Retrieved 6 August 2018. Paul Joseph Watson is editor-at-large of Infowars, an American alternative news site, and achieved global fame by producing YouTube videos from his flat in London.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cheadle, Harry (26 August 2016). "How Conspiracy Theories About Hillary Clinton's Health Went Mainstream". Vice. British conspiracy theorist Paul Joseph Watson<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  4. ↑ Townsend, Mark (11 February 2017). "Britain's extremist bloggers helping the 'alt-right' go global, report finds". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 January 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  5. ↑ Weigel, David (28 August 2017). "The alt-right's take on Clinton's speech: Botched, but legitimizing". Washington Post. Retrieved 24 January 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  6. ↑ "Alt-right editor challenges journalists to visit Sweden". BBC News. 21 February 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017. Paul Joseph Watson, the UK-based editor of far-right conspiracy website Infowars<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  7. ↑ Infowars’ Paul Joseph Watson can’t get anything right Salon
  8. ↑ "Paul Joseph Watson". IMDb. Retrieved 7 December 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  9. ↑ "Paul Joseph Watson". Youtube.com. 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  10. ↑ Isaac, Mike (2 May 2019). "Facebook Bans Alex Jones, Louis Farrakhan and Others From Its Services". NYTimes.com.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  11. ↑ "Facebook bans Louis Farrakhan, Alex Jones for hate speech". news.yahoo.com.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "cite tweet".
  13. ↑ Lynch, Conor (23 December 2016). "Donald Trump and the libertarians: Why have so many people who claim to love freedom embraced a strongman?". Salon.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  14. ↑ Walter, Damien (18 February 2017). "There's a very simple reason why the alt-right is not the new counterculture". The Independent.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  15. ↑ Paul Joseph Watson on TwitterLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 22: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
  16. ↑ Pearce, Matt (29 November 2016). "The 'alt-right' splinters as supporters and critics agree it was white supremacy all along". LA Times. Retrieved 24 January 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  17. ↑ James, Jordan (18 June 2018). "DANK ENDORSEMENT: Paul Joseph Watson, Count Dankula and Sargon of Akkad join UKIP to FIGHT for freedom | Politicalite | The Latest Political News". politicalite.com. Retrieved 20 June 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  18. ↑ Ovenden, Olivia (6 August 2018). "UKIP Are Working With Controversial Alt-Right YouTubers To Win Over Young Voters". Esquire. Retrieved 11 August 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  19. ↑ "UKIP is bouncing back in an altogether nastier form". The Economist. 19 July 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  20. ↑ "Threats to boycott Tesco after Muslim family features in Christmas ad". The New Yorker. 13 November 2017.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  21. ↑ "Signatories". nonfeminist18.wordpress.com. Non-Feminist 18 via WordPress. Retrieved 26 July 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  22. ↑ "The Non-Feminist Declaration". nonfeminist18.wordpress.com. Non-Feminist 18 via WordPress. Retrieved 26 July 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Croucher, Shane (16 August 2018). "Alex Jones Is Off Social Media—but His British Infowars Sidekick Paul Joseph Watson's Accounts Are Still Live". Newsweek. Retrieved 24 January 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Hines, Nico (22 April 2018). "Alex Jones' Protegé, Paul Joseph Watson, Is About to Steal His Crackpot Crown". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 24 January 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  25. ↑ Sorensen, Martin Selsoe (24 February 2017). "Sweden, Nation of Open Arms, Debates Implications of Immigration". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 December 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  26. ↑ "The Live-Streamers Who Are Challenging Traditional Journalism". The New Yorker. 11 December 2017.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  27. ↑ "Kanye West celebrated by right-wing conspiracy theorists over recent comments". MediaWorks New Zealand. 24 April 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  28. ↑ Lemon, Jason (25 June 2018). "Alt-Right Linked Social Media Activists Welcomed As Members of Britain's UKIP". Newsweek. Retrieved 24 January 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  29. ↑ "Mosque-attack suspect read conspiracy site InfoWars prior to London rampage: Prosecutors". The Washington Times. 24 January 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  30. ↑ "Even a top far-right conspiracy theorist says Trump's retweets of fringe British anti-Muslim videos are 'bad optics'". Business Insider. 29 November 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  31. ↑ Griffin, Andrew (11 August 2017). "YouTube stars that supported Donald Trump claim site is taking away their money and they'll quit". The Guardian.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  32. ↑ Withey, Josh (8 April 2017). "Paul Joseph Watson in humiliating U-turn after losing hundreds of followers". indy100. Retrieved 14 April 2017.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  33. ↑ Greenwood, Max (7 April 2017). "Syria strike disappoints Trump backers in media". The Hill. Retrieved 14 April 2017.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  34. ↑ "Alt-right commentator gets 'schooled' by historian over diversity in Roman Britain". The Daily Telegraph. 27 July 2017.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  35. ↑ "Ancient Rome was more modern than our alt-right". The New European. 22 August 2017.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "cite tweet".
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 "Facebook Calls me 'Dangerous'. Imagine My Shock. No, Really…: To whom am I a danger?". Summit News. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  38. ↑ Jamieson, Amber (26 August 2016). "Conspiracy central: the activists painting Clinton as a sick, terrorist-friendly killer". The Guardian.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  39. ↑ Collins, Ben (9 August 2016). "'Is Hillary Dying' Hoax Started by Pal of Alex Jones". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 24 January 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 Roden, Lee (21 February 2017). "Far-right editor's offer to pay travel costs to 'crime-ridden Malmö' backfires as dozens accept". The Local Sweden.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  41. ↑ Bowden, George (20 February 2017). "Paul Joseph Watson's Twitter Offer For Journalist Trip To Sweden Spectacularly Backfires". Huffington Post.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 Bowden, George (21 February 2017). "Paul Joseph Watson Comes Good On Twitter Offer To 'Investigate Malmo, Sweden, Crimes'". Huffington Post.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  43. ↑ CNN (7 November 2018). "Trump clashes with Jim Acosta in testy exchange". YouTube. Retrieved 10 May 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  44. ↑ Lurie, David R. (21 November 2018). "The White House Restored Jim Acosta's Press Pass, but Hasn't Abandoned Its Attack on Free Speech". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 24 December 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  45. ↑ Griffiths, Brent D.; Schwartz, Jason. "White House pulls pass from CNN reporter". POLITICO. Retrieved 24 December 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 46.2 Harwell, Drew (8 November 2018). "VIDEO: White House shares doctored video to support punishment of journalist Jim Acosta". Washington Post. Retrieved 17 December 2018 – via Duluth News Tribune.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Hefner, Josh (8 November 2018). "White House shares edited video to justify revoking press pass of CNN's Jim Acosta". Retrieved 17 December 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  48. ↑ Johnson, Michaela (8 November 2018). "Sanders criticized for sharing 'doctored' video of Acosta at press conference". KOMO-FM. Sinclair Broadcast Group. Retrieved 18 December 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 Ismail, Aymann (8 November 2018). "The White House's Acosta Video Looks Different From the Original. Does That Mean It's "Doctored"?". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 22 December 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  50. ↑ Rogers, Kaleigh; Koebler, Jason (8 November 2018). "Expert Says: No Evidence the White House Video of Jim Acosta Was Doctored". Motherboard. Retrieved 22 December 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  51. ↑ Herrman, John (3 August 2017). "For the New Far Right, YouTube Has Become the New Talk Radio". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 August 2017.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  52. ↑ Hayden, Michael Edison (4 January 2018). "Keith Ellison's 'Antifa' Tweet Spurs Anti-Muslim and Racist Backlash". Newsweek. Retrieved 14 January 2018.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  53. ↑ Oliver, Darcy (2 May 2019). "Facebook bans Louis Farrakhan, Milo Yiannopoulos, InfoWars and others from its platforms as 'dangerous'". CNN. Retrieved 2 May 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  54. ↑ Script error: No such module "cite tweet".

External links

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