Just weeks after landing in hot water for using
In a statement, Twitter said they “permanently suspended” the congresswoman’s page, @mtgreenee, for “repeated violations” of their COVID-19 misinformation policy. The social media platform’s strike system went into effect in March 2021.
Under the system, a user can be suspended for a week if they violate the policy four times. Five or more violations will result in a permanent ban.
The tweet that triggered the ban featured a graph that supposedly showed deaths due to COVID-19 vaccines, a source familiar with Twitter’s decision said, according to CNN. Greene alleged that such deaths have been ignored.
Following the ban, Greene released a statement saying she was tweeting statistics from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which operates under the Department of Health and Human Services. Anyone can submit a report to the system, but it is “not designed to determine if a vaccine caused a health problem,” the agency said.
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“Twitter is an enemy to America and can’t handle the truth,” said Greene, according to NBC News. “That’s fine, I’ll show America we don’t need them and it’s time to defeat our enemies.”
Greene is the first member of Congress to be permanently banned on Twitter. The verdict, however, follows a history of temporary suspensions.
Last January, Greene was suspended for claiming widespread voter fraud in Georgia. She was later suspended in July and August for tweeting misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccination effort.
At least two other House Republicans – Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Barry Moore (R-Ala.) – have also received temporary suspensions on Twitter, according to Reuters.
With her permanent ban, Greene follows former President Donald Trump, who was also ousted from Twitter nearly a year ago after the deadly Capitol riots.
Today, Greene announced via Gettr – a conservative social media platform founded by former Trump adviser Jason Miller – that Facebook also suspended her account for 24 hours.
“Facebook has joined Twitter in censoring me. This is beyond censorship of speech,” Greene wrote. “I’m an elected Member of Congress representing over 700,000 US tax paying citizens and I represent their voices, values, defend their freedoms, and protect the Constitution.”
Greene is demanding Twitter to reinstate her account, citing two prior incidents in which the platform had accidentally suspended her.
Greene’s official congressional account, @RepMTG, which has about 395,000 followers, remains active.
Featured Image via Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
