Twitter on Sunday temporarily suspended the account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for violating the company’s misinformation policy. Greene, a political newcomer known for promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory, will be locked out of her account for 12 hours. Greene was elected to represent Georgia’s 14th District in November.
In a statement to CNN, a Twitter spokesperson said “the account referenced has been temporarily locked out for multiple violations of our civic integrity policy,” which was updated following the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Greene’s final posts prior to her suspension included false claims about widespread voter fraud in Georgia and a conspiracy-laden thread about the Georgia Senate elections. In a series of tweets, she called Georgia’s elections officials “morons.” Twitter put labels on several of the tweets reading, “This claim about election fraud is disputed, and this Tweet can’t be replied to, Retweeted, or liked due to a risk of violence.”
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In a statement Sunday hitting back at her suspension, Greene called on Congress to “act swiftly” to “protect free speech in America.” She said, “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,” adding that “they shouldn’t be scared into submission by Socialists who want to end their way of life.”
Greene’s account was unlocked Monday morning, after which she again spoke out against her temporary suspension in a thread. In the thread, she said the tweets the company “deem ‘appropriate’ and ‘safe’ and ‘true,’ compared to tweets you deem ‘inciting violence’ and ‘spreading false information’ and ‘claims of election fraud is disputed’ are so many times, in the opinion of many, quit hypocritical and false.” She went on to accuse the company of “continuously” abusing “conservative’s opinions and free speech by canceling us” and “playing a very big role in the dangerous divide of Americans and violating people’s guaranteed right of free speech.”
In the wake of the Capitol riot, Twitter has suspended more than 70,000 accounts for promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory. President Donald Trump has also been slapped with a permanent ban from the platform “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Addressing the ban last week, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said he believes “this was the right decision for Twitter,” adding that he did not “celebrate or feel pride in our having to ban @realDonaldTrump from Twitter, or how we got here.” He added, “While there are clear and obvious exceptions, I feel a ban is a failure of ours ultimately to promote healthy conversation. And a time for us to reflect on our operations and the environment around us.”
