Twitter permanently suspended the personal account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for repeatedly violating the company’s policy against publishing COVID-19 misinformation on the platform. Greene still has access to her official congressional account, @RepMTG, although she most frequently used her personal account, @mtgreenee.
Twitter didn’t say what exactly got the Republican lawmaker from Georgia suspended but it took place a day after she tweeted a false claim about the “extremely high amounts of COVID vaccine deaths.” The tweet included a chart from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which includes unverified claims that officials have warned should not be taken as factual. Twitter said that the tweet that got Greene suspended amounted to her fifth strike, meaning she will not be able to get her account restored. Accounts that have been suspended can appeal and the suspension can be reversed if what was written is proven to be factual. Greene’s previous strike had come in August when she said vaccines were “failing,” which led to a one-week suspension of her account. And she had received a third strike, and a 12-hour suspension, when she falsely said COVID-19 was only dangerous for people were obese or over 65 years old. “We’ve been clear that, per our strike system for this policy, we will permanently suspend accounts for repeated violations of the policy,” a Twitter spokeswoman said.
Greene harshly criticized Twitter in a statement on Telegram, a messaging app. “Twitter is an enemy to America and can’t handle the truth,” Greene said. “That’s fine, I’ll show America we don’t need them and it’s time to defeat our enemies.” Greene’s suspension comes almost a year after Twitter banned then-President Donald Trump shortly after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
