US hoax trials spotlight misinformation profiteer

The families of the school shooting victims say they were harassed and threatened for years by Jones's fans, with strangers showing up at their homes to confront them and hurling abuse online. Some even reported receiving rape and death threats. — AP

WASHINGTON: 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.

Jones, a serial provocateur who founded the far-right website InfoWars, has been ordered to pay nearly US$1.5bil (RM6.6bil) in damages for calling a 2012 mass shooting in an elementary school – which left 20 first graders and six adults dead – a "hoax."