Researching Paul Watson

The Toronto native joined a Sierra Club protest against nuclear testing in 1969. He was a co-founder of Greenpeace in 1972. Because Watson argued for a strategy of direct action that conflicted with the Greenpeace interpretation of nonviolence, he was ousted from the board in 1977. That same year, he formed the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The group was the subject of a reality show named Whale Wars.

He promotes veganism, population reduction and a biocentric, rather than anthropocentric, worldview.

Watson's activities have led to legal action from authorities in countries including the United States, Canada, Norway, Costa Rica and Japan. He was detained in Germany on an extradition request by Costa Rica in May 2012. An Interpol red notice was issued on September 14, 2012, at the request of Japan and Costa Rica.

After staying at sea for 15 months following his escape from Germany, where he was released on bail, he returned to Los Angeles in late October 2013, going through customs and "was not arrested". He appeared before a US appeals court on November 6, 2013, stating that neither he nor the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society violated a 2012 order requiring them to leave whaling vessels alone. Although the United States is a signatory member of Interpol, Watson has not been detained for extradition to Japan or Costa Rica. He is living in Vermont, writing books. He was residing in Paris as of July 1, 2014 but has since returned to the USA.

In March 2019, Costa Rica dropped all charges against Watson and has removed the Interpol red notice.

Watson's career emerged through his work for conspiracy theorist and radio host Alex Jones. As editor-at-large of Jones' website InfoWars, he helped promote fake news and advocated for 9/11, chemtrail and New World Order conspiracy theories. Subsequently, reaching a significant audience, both Watson and Jones altered their focus. They now mainly focus on criticizing feminism, Islam, and left-wing politics. Watson also contributes to InfoWarss talk radio program The Alex Jones Show, which he occasionally hosts or co-hosts. Watson has been working at InfoWars since October 2002.

Since 2011, Watson has hosted his own YouTube channel, prisonplanetlive, on which he expresses his views on topics such as contemporary society, politics, and modern liberalism in an often mocking manner. He describes his channel as "Culture, controversy, contrarianism" and often lampoons celebrities and politicians. As of January 2020, his channel has over 1.78 million subscribers.