(NewsNation Now) — Now that Twitter has permanently suspended the personal account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for multiple violations of the platform’s COVID-19 misinformation policy, could big tech go after other elected officials? A political reporter tells NewsNation that’s one of the major questions people are asking.
“Conservatives will say that this has something to do with big tech being biased against conservatives and those in the Trump wing of the Republican Party,” Julia Manchester, a political reporter for The Hill, said on “NewsNation Prime.” “However, I think there’s also a very genuine and real concern among other Americans and those in Congress who say, ‘Look, we can’t be having elected officials spreading misinformation about coronavirus … as so many cases are popping up across the country.”
Twitter had previously suspended Greene’s personal account for periods ranging from 12 hours to a full week. The ban applies to Greene’s personal account, @mtgreenee, but does not affect her official Twitter account, @RepMTG.
Apparently, the tweet that resulted in her permanent banning was a long post comparing life in America before the advent of COVID-19 and now. That post is still visible on her Facebook account.
In July, Twitter suspended Greene for a week after President Joe Biden urged tech companies to take stronger action against bogus vaccine claims that are “killing people.” Twitter has defended its efforts to keep dangerous misinformation about COVID-19 off its site, saying it has removed thousands of tweets and challenged millions of accounts worldwide.
Last year, the tech giant permanently suspended former President Donald Trump’s personal account following the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Facebook suspended Trump for a period of at least two years, and Trump has responded by promising to set up his own social media platform.
“After he was taken off of Twitter, he clearly still has a platform,” Manchester said. “He sends out press releases, he goes and does these television and radio interviews and such. I don’t know if Marjorie Taylor Greene will be able to galvanize that same sort of support through that measure.”
In response to the suspension, Greene said in a statement published on Telegram that she was telling the truth.
“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.”
