--- title: "Elon Musk restores Alex Jones’ X account" description: "New findings on how teens use social media and the internet, Politicians are not reaching voters who use TikTok through the platform" date: "2023-12-14" authors: - name: "cstaubin" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/the-briefing/elon-musk-restores-alex-jones-x-account/" --- # Elon Musk restores Alex Jones’ X account [![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/prc-logo.png){.aligncenter width=348}](https://www.pewresearch.org/prc-logo/) --- December 14, 2023 # The Briefing **☀️ Happy Thursday!** *The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. [**Sign up here!**](https://www.pewresearch.org/sign-up-for-the-briefing/)* **In today*’*s email:** - **Top story: **Elon Musk restores Alex Jones' X account - **New from Pew Research Center: **A look at how teens use social media and the internet - **In other news:** Many commentators and voters use TikTok, but most politicians don’t - **Looking ahead:** A CBS journalist faces contempt of court charges if she does not reveal a source - **Chart of the week:** Support for a TikTok ban has declined since March 🔥 **Top story** Elon Musk [has restored conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ account on X](https://apnews.com/article/alex-jones-x-account-elon-musk-90cfc990631dec5e8f337167fbe16372), formerly known as Twitter, following a poll asking users if Jones’ account should be reinstated. Jones and his InfoWars outlet were [“permanently suspended” from Twitter in 2018](https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2F2018%2F09%2F06%2F645352618%2Ftwitter-bans-alex-jones-and-infowars-cites-abusive-behavior&data=05%7C02%7Ccstaubin%40pewresearch.org%7C92b07abc019048616aff08dbfc48db11%7C95cf77fc02904b23b257df0a6fd7595d%7C0%7C0%7C638381162095660487%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=D7ux5y4c935%2FFeU%2BiZn1TYM2SE9M6Jr%2FWgd8yaxapOk%3D&reserved=0) due to tweets and videos that violated the platform’s abusive behavior policy. Musk’s move comes amid **significant partisan shifts among news consumers on the platform**. In 2022, before Musk purchased Twitter, 65% of Americans who said they regularly got news on the site were Democrats or independents who leaned Democratic. [This year](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/social-media-and-news-fact-sheet/), news consumers on X are about evenly split between Democrats and Republicans (49% vs. 46%). According to a [2023 Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/05/01/after-musks-takeover-big-shifts-in-how-republican-and-democratic-twitter-users-view-the-platform/), Democratic** **users were far more likely than Republican** **users to say **inaccurate or misleading information** (68% vs. 37%), and the **tone or civility of discussions** (50% vs. 27%) were **major problems** on the platform. In a different 2023 survey, 65% of U.S. adults said that [tech companies should take steps to restrict false information online](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/07/20/most-americans-favor-restrictions-on-false-information-violent-content-online/) even if it limits freedom of information. 🚨 **New from Pew Research Center** A new Pew Research Center [survey of U.S. teens](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2023/12/11/teens-social-media-and-technology-2023/) focused on social media, internet use and device ownership among teens. Here’s a look at some key findings: - **YouTube continues to dominate.** Roughly nine-in-ten teens say they use YouTube, making it the most widely used platform measured in our survey. - **TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram remain popular among teens:** Majorities of teens ages 13 to 17 say they use TikTok (63%), Snapchat (60%) and Instagram (59%). For older teens ages 15 to 17, these shares are about seven-in-ten. - **Teens are less likely to be using Facebook and Twitter (recently renamed X) than they were a decade ago:** Facebook once dominated the social media landscape among America’s youth, but the share of teens who use the site has dropped from 71% in 2014-15 to 33% today. Twitter has also seen its teen user base shrink during the past decade – albeit at a less steep decline than Facebook. Also: [Where teens and adults stand on banning TikTok](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/12/11/a-declining-share-of-adults-and-few-teens-support-a-us-tiktok-ban/) 📌 **In other news** - While many **political influencers and voters use TikTok**, few [political candidates for the 2024 election](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/business/media/tiktok-politicians.html) use the app - **Tucker Carlson** [launches a subscription streaming service](https://www.wsj.com/business/media/tucker-carlson-is-launching-his-own-streaming-service-5fc2f9ba) - OpenAI and Axel Springer [make a deal](https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2023%2F12%2F13%2Fopenai-and-axel-springer-strike-unprecedented-deal-to-offer-news-in-chatgpt.html&data=05%7C02%7Ccstaubin%40pewresearch.org%7C92b07abc019048616aff08dbfc48db11%7C95cf77fc02904b23b257df0a6fd7595d%7C0%7C0%7C638381162095816239%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=j5IGuCjSxA%2BWkBM7G2wGaM82TECh5RT%2FJkSKLrAb3SQ%3D&reserved=0) to **offer news in ChatGPT** - [New projections](https://axios.com/2023/12/08/us-political-ad-market-2024-spending) suggest **U.S. political ad spending** could surge to $16 billion in 2024 - **Media Matters** sues **Texas attorney general** over [investigation into the outlet’s reporting](https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Ftech%2Finternet%2Fmedia-matters-elon-musk-texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-rcna129402&data=05%7C02%7Ccstaubin%40pewresearch.org%7C92b07abc019048616aff08dbfc48db11%7C95cf77fc02904b23b257df0a6fd7595d%7C0%7C0%7C638381162095816239%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=NWZDXUettmE8k94%2B4ORph9OTwXbkV42k2cZfD8x5I74%3D&reserved=0) about the X app - The impact of [citizen journalists](https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2023%2Fdec%2F12%2Fgaza-citizen-journalists-war-footage-israel&data=05%7C02%7Ccstaubin%40pewresearch.org%7C92b07abc019048616aff08dbfc48db11%7C95cf77fc02904b23b257df0a6fd7595d%7C0%7C0%7C638381162095816239%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=crHTjbQLjbGy2uMWd1vneE1MiIJEjWUNdL9sMezgBDk%3D&reserved=0) in **Gaza ** 📅 **Looking ahead** A [CBS reporter could soon be held in contempt of court](https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2023/12/08/catherine-herridge-fox-cbs-contempt-judge/) if she **does not reveal the source she used** for a series of investigative stories she wrote at Fox News in 2017. While working there, Catherine Herridge reported on a federal probe into a Chinese American scientist, using an unnamed source. A U.S. District Court in August ruled she must reveal her source, a ruling that **press advocates say is a violation of the First Amendment** and will have a chilling effect on journalism. According to [a 2020 Pew Research Center study](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/10/09/most-americans-see-a-place-for-anonymous-sources-in-news-stories-but-not-all-the-time/#:~:text=A%20much%20smaller%20share%20%E2%80%93%2015,Research%20Center%20survey%20conducted%20Feb.) on the use of unnamed sources, a majority of U.S. adults (82%) say that there are times when it is acceptable for journalists to use anonymous sources, with 67% saying it is **acceptable only in special cases.** 📊 **Chart of the week** This week’s chart comes from our new blog post exploring [views of a TikTok ban](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/12/11/a-declining-share-of-adults-and-few-teens-support-a-us-tiktok-ban/). The share of Americans who say they would support the U.S. government banning TikTok has **declined from 50% in March to 38% in the new survey**, conducted in late September and early October. The percentages who say they are opposed to a potential ban or uncertain about it have both increased. [![A line chart showing that support for a U.S. TikTok ban has dropped since March 2023.](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/SR_23.12.11_tiktok-ban_1.png?w=260){.aligncenter width=260}](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/12/11/a-declining-share-of-adults-and-few-teens-support-a-us-tiktok-ban/sr_23-12-11_tiktok-ban_1/) --- *👋 That's all for this week. * The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Jacob Liedke, Sarah Naseer, Christopher St. Aubin, Luxuan Wang and Emily Tomasik. It is edited by Katerina Eva Matsa, Michael Lipka and Mark Jurkowitz, and copy edited by David Kent. *Do you like this newsletter? 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