A bank recently shut down the accounts of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ media company, citing unauthorized transactions — a move that caused panic at the business when its balances suddenly dropped from more than $2 million to zero, according to a lawyer for the company.

The action last week by Axos Bank also exposed worry and doubt at the company, Free Speech Systems, about being able to find another bank to handle its money.

Jones, a conservative provocateur whose Infowars program promotes fake theories about global conspiracies, UFOs and mind control, is seeking bankruptcy protection as he and his company owe $1.5 billion to relatives of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut.

  • fiat_lux@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    This is the underlying problem with how we use money as a proxy for power. As soon as someone signs something into their family’s name it becomes nearly inaccessible to the justice system, because of due process and corporate personhood. Bank transfers are pretty instantaneous nowadays, the justice systems are very much not. Which leaves these families on years-long time-consuming expensive missions to force any blood from that stone.

    I have a zany idea for partially remedying this. Send the person to actual prison when it becomes clear that the companies they have a financial interest in have not shown progress on divesting their assets and removing the person from the business, let’s say after 1 month - just enough to appoint an independent auditor. No professional communication with the person except via their lawyers and auditor. Economic sanctions for all companies dealing with that person until all appeals are exhausted, except their lawyers. No merchandise deals, movies, supplements contracts, guest hosting on Steven Crowder’s podcast, none of that.

    If businesses have legal personhood, it’s time to start applying personal consequences for the key decision-makers of those companies when they commit crimes or facilitate the people avoiding consequences.