This is Fresh Air. I'm Dave Davies and today for Cherry Gross.

Last month, parents of nine children killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting reached a

73-million-dollar settlement in their lawsuit against the makers of the Bushmaster AR-15-style

rifle used in the killing. Our guest today, journalist and author Elizabeth Williamson,

has spent countless hours with families of the Sandy Hook children in recent years. Her focus

is not on gun safety, but the damage done by conspiracy theorists who insist the shooting was a

hoax, and the parents were really actors part of a sinister government plot. In a new book,

Williamson shows that the conspiracists, abetted by social media platforms that amplified their

bogus claims, tormented the parents online. Some were stalked and forced into hiding.

The book also shows how the parents fought back, getting online platforms to take down much

of the Hoaxer's content and eventually suing one of the most influential of them.

Alex Jones of Info Wars. Last year, judges in four defamation cases found Jones liable because

he'd refused to turn over documents required by the court. Damages will be determined by

juries and trials this spring. Williamson argues that the Sandy Hook experience merits close examination

because the patterns of online disinformation that fueled the deniers are being replicated in

the campaign to discredit the results of the 2020 election. And she notes the committee investigating

the January 6th assault on the U.S. Capitol has subpoenaed Jones to provide testimony and records

about his role in events around the attack. Elizabeth Williamson is a feature writer for the New

York Times and a former member of its editorial board. She began her career as a foreign correspondent

for the Wall Street Journal and covered national politics for the Journal and the Washington Post.

Her new book is Sandy Hook, an American tragedy and the battle for truth. Well, Elizabeth

Williamson, welcome to Fresh Air. Alex Jones is a key figure in this story, but I thought we'd

...