Twitter handed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) a 12-hour suspension after sharing misinformation about COVID-19.
A Twitter spokesperson said she was suspended for two tweets she issued on Monday.
She claimed in her first tweet, “The controversial [COVID19] vaccines should not be forced on our military for a virus that is not dangerous for non-obese people and those under 65.”
Greene added, “With 6,000 vax related deaths and many concerning side effects reported, the vax should be a choice not a mandate for everyone.”
The controversial #COVID19 vaccines should not be forced on our military for a virus that is not dangerous for non-obese people and those under 65.
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) July 19, 2021
With 6,000 vax related deaths and many concerning side effects reported, the vax should be a choice not a mandate for everyone. https://t.co/JhYg3acrrK
In her second tweet, Greene argued, “This is why no entity should force NON-FDA approved vaccines or masks.”
She continued, “Instead help people protect their health by defeating obesity, which will protect them from covid complications and death, and many other health problems. We should invest in health, not human experimentation.”
This is why no entity should force NON-FDA approved vaccines or masks.
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) July 19, 2021
Instead help people protect their health by defeating obesity, which will protect them from covid complications & death, and many other health problems.
We should invest in health, not human experimentation. https://t.co/I4zHqwabhi
The social media company labeled both tweets misleading. Users are also unable to like or share the tweets.
Greene told The Hill, “Twitter, Facebook and the rest of the Silicon Valley Cartel are working hand in hand with the White House to censor Americans.”
She went on, “This is a Communist-style assault on free speech. I will not back down and I will continue [to] tell the truth to the American people.”
According to a Twitter spokesman, the company took enforcement action on Greene’s account “for violations of the Twitter Rules, specifically the Covid-19 misleading information policy,” as The New York Times reports.
The social media platform’s policy against sharing Covid misinformation says it has “observed the emergence of persistent conspiracy theories, alarmist rhetoric unfounded in research or credible reporting, and a wide range of unsubstantiated rumors, which left uncontextualized can prevent the public from making informed decisions regarding their health, and puts individuals, families and communities at risk.”
The New York Times notes Greene’s 12-hour suspension is Twitter’s response to users with two or three strikes. If a user has four strikes, they are suspended for seven days. When a user receives five strikes, Twitter bans users altogether.