Can't load a JSON file into python

I asked in another question for the type of this object, it is a text file coming from a URL.
variable = [["1","arbitrary string","another arbitrary string"],
["2","arbitrary string","another arbitrary string"],
["3","arbitrary string","another arbitrary string"],
["4","arbitrary string","another arbitrary string"]];
another_variable = "arbitrary string";
I was told it is a JSON object, but when I try json.loads, I get an error saying that "No JSON object could be decoded"
What am I missing please.