Infowars

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones took the stand at his defamation trial as he tries to limit the damages he must pay for promoting the lie that the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax.

Revelations from Jones' defamation trials point to the existence of a rarified class of extreme internet personalities who are better shielded from efforts to stem the reach of their content.

An FBI agent struggled to control his emotions as he described seeing bodies inside Sandy Hook elementary school — a scene that the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones later claimed was staged by actors.

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones must pay millions in damages for spreading lies about the Sandy Hook school massacre. But even if the penalties shut down Infowars, his influence will remain.

Jones, the creator and face of the conspiracy-peddling website InfoWars, is on the hook for a total of $49.3 million for spreading falsehoods about the 2012 mass shooting at an elementary school.

The InfoWars host and creator will have to pay $4.1 million to two parents whose 6-year-old son was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012. Jones spent years claiming the mass shooting as a hoax.

Neil Heslin, whose 6-year-old son was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012, testified that he has endured online abuse, anonymous phone calls and harassment on the street.

Rumors, misinformation and conspiracy theories were rampant on right-wing social media before verifiable information came out about the gunman who killed 21 people at a Texas elementary school.

A Texas judge pushed back the first jury trial over how much the conspiracy theorist should pay the families of Sandy Hook victims. Jones' Infowars company sought bankruptcy protection this week.

Founder Alex Jones, who's repeatedly called the 2012 shooting at a Connecticut elementary school a hoax, has been sued several times by the victims' families for defamation and emotional distress.