The outspoken Republican says ‘big tech is silencing Americans’
Erin Schaff – Pool/Getty Images
Twitter suspended the account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). The social media company temporarily banned the Republican congresswoman for allegedly spreading misinformation. Greene was temporarily suspended for 12 hours on Sunday.
“The account referenced has been temporarily locked out for multiple violations of our civic integrity policy,” a Twitter spokesperson told The Hill.
In September, Twitter’s civic integrity policy stated the social media network “will label or remove false or misleading information intended to undermine public confidence in an election or other civic process.”
Greene’s office issued a statement regarding her suspension.
“Just days after the Silicon Valley Cartel launched a multi-front attack to chill free speech in America by deplatforming President Donald Trump and purging an unknown number of conservatives, Twitter has decided to suspend my personal account without explanation,” the statement read. “The borderline monopolistic stranglehold a few Big Tech companies have on the American political discourse is out of control.”
“If a conservative dares to utter a political opinion that is deemed unapproved by the internet police they are now subject to false accusations of ‘inciting violence’ simply for having a conservative view,” the press release said.
“Congress must act, and act swiftly, to protect free speech in America,” Greene’s office stated. “Conservative Americans shouldn’t be afraid to speak their mind. They shouldn’t have to fear being cancelled by American corporations where they work, do business, and use services. They shouldn’t be scared into submission by Socialists who want to end their way of life.”
Greene’s office claimed that “big tech is silencing Americans,” adding that “censorship has got to stop.”
On Sunday morning, Greene gave an interview where she was critical of Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s voter system implementation manager. The freshman representative posted the video on her Twitter, which was flagged and disabled by Twitter.
“This claim of election fraud is disputed, and this Tweet can’t be replied to, Retweeted, or liked due to a risk of violence,” the Twitter warning stated.
Greene had two other tweets posted on Sunday that were flagged for spreading misinformation about elections.
Greene has been criticized for supporting the QAnon conspiracy theory, even by members of her own party.
Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska wrote a scathing op-ed in The Atlantic rebuking GOP members who embrace conspiracy theories, specifically naming Greene.
“Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs,” Sasse wrote on Saturday. “She once ranted that ‘there’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out, and I think we have the president to do it.'”
Sasse said that conspiracy theories planted the seeds that led to the riots at the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6.
On Tuesday, Twitter announced that it had suspended “more than 70,000 accounts” since the storming of the Capitol.
“We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm,” Twitter said in a blog post. “Given the violent events in Washington, DC, and increased risk of harm, we began permanently suspending thousands of accounts that were primarily dedicated to sharing QAnon content on Friday afternoon.”
Twitter permanently banned President Donald Trump from the social media platform following the Capitol riots, citing “risk of further incitement of violence.