Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Suspended From Twitter After Harassing Georgia Election Official
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Jack BrewsterForbes StaffBusinessI'm a news reporter for Forbes.
Topline
Twitter on Sunday temporarily suspended the account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who first gained a social media following by promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory and who routinely posts outlandish content online, after the freshman Georgia congresswoman sparred with a state election official over baseless voter fraud allegations.
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 03: U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) with her "Trump Won" face mask ... [+] pulled down during speaks to a colleague on the new year's opening session on January 3, 2021 in Washington, DC. Both chambers are holding rare Sunday sessions to open the new Congress as the Constitution requires. (Photo by Erin Scott-Pool/Getty Images)
Key Facts
Greene's personal account was suspended for 12 hours following "multiple violations" of Twitter's "civic integrity policy," a company spokesperson told Forbes on Sunday.
Twitter did not specify what content led to the action—and the congresswoman herself said she was in the dark about the suspension—though three of her tweets in the last 24 hours were labeled by Twitter for spreading false claims about the election.
In a string of tweets Sunday, Greene harassed Georgia voting systems manager Gabriel Sterling, calling him a "moron" and "little," after the Republican election official held Greene, former Rep. Doug Collins and President Donald Trump responsible for Republicans' loss in two Senate runoffs in the state.
Sterling claimed Greene, Collins and Trump drove down Republican voter turnout by making false claims about voter fraud:
In a statement, Greene called the temporary ban a form of "censorship" and accused Twitter of unfairly targeting conservatives—days after the company permanently banned Trump.
"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 an conservative view," said Greene, who called the January 6 challenge to the Electoral College certification Republicans' "1776 moment."
What To Watch For
Conservatives have flocked to fringe social media sites since Trump was banned by Twitter and a host of other social media platforms. Greene and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), another freshman congresswoman who has flirted with QAnon ideas, joined Gab this weekend, a site known for its hands off approach to moderating content and for being a bastion of conspiracy theories and hate speech.
Surprising Fact
In September, Greene posted a photoshopped meme on Facebook of her standing with a gun next to progressive House members known as "The Squad."
Tangent
Greene has embraced controversy during her first few days in Congress. She has at times refused to wear a mask, defying chamber rules, and said she will file an article of impeachment against President-elect Joe Biden when he takes office. In the lead up to the impeachment vote on Wednesday, Greene wore a mask with the word "censored" emblazoned on it as she freely spoke from a microphone on the House floor.
Key Background
Twitter, joined by nearly all other social media companies, cracked down on misinformation, hate speech, and conspiracy theories in the wake of the Capitol attack. Twitter banned more than 70,000 accounts that promoted QAnon, the company announced last week, and permanently suspended multiple high-profile accounts, including Trump's.
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A perfect trumper.
This nut case has to go.
A representative of the new Republican party?
Bizarre to say the least.
She's the one who's already said she's introducing articles of impeachment against Biden, before he has even been inaugurated. For what? Who the hell knows?
She says "abuse of power". Which is strange since he doesnt have any power yet.
If she does try it, she should be laughed out of the House chamber and censured.
She's nutz with a capital N. Why anyone voted for this imbecile is beyond my comprehension.
Donald Trump Brought out the vote, don't cha know.