“Lawsuits against Alex Jones are a new strategy in curbing conspiracy theories”

Roy Gutterman, associate professor of magazine, news and digital journalism in the Newhouse School and director of the Tully Center for Free Speech, was quoted in Grid News story “Lawsuits against Alex Jones are a new strategy in curbing conspiracy theories.” Gutterman, an expert on communications law, explained how the current lawsuits against Alex Jones based on his commentary and claims regarding the Sandy Hook school shooting differ from typical defamation cases.

“Most defamation cases really focus on an individual plaintiff,” Gutterman said. “So, in some ways, these lawsuits against Alex Jones and Infowars are kind of a novel way to rein in this new genre of conspiracy theory-related information.” However, Gutterman cautioned that a case like this may cause a slippery slope of action against many types of media, not just explicit disinformation peddlers.