Twitter has suspended the personal account of U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican who represents Northwest Georgia, according to reports from NBC, CNN and others.
NBC News reported the suspension on Sunday and said the social media company banned Greene’s because it spread misinformation about COVID vaccines. His official account remains active.
NBC News reported that Greene said she was suspended for posting statistics on the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). The system was set up in 1990 to track possible side effects of vaccines. Anyone can submit a report to VAERS, which is designed to collect information without verifying whether vaccines caused the reported symptoms.
“Twitter is an enemy of America and can’t handle the truth,” Greene told NBC News. “It’s fine, I’m going to show America that we don’t need it and it’s time to defeat our enemies.”
Greene was born in Milledgeville, Georgia in 1974 and worked as a businesswoman before her election to Congress in 2020. Former President Donald Trump has endorsed her campaign, which has sparked controversy due to her endorsement of conspiracy theories , including QAnon, according to the Washington Post and New York Times.
According to reports, Greene has faced temporary suspensions in the past due to posts about COVID vaccines and the 2020 presidential election. Twitter has a policy which prohibits accounts from sharing false information about COVID-19 vaccines.
“Content that is patently false or misleading and may pose a significant risk of harm (such as increased exposure to the virus or adverse effects on public health systems) may not be shared on Twitter,” according to the Help Center. .
The company has created a strike policy that increases penalties for those who repeatedly violate its misinformation rules. The company permanently suspended former President Donald Trump’s account in January 2021 following riots in the US Capitol fueled by conspiracies over the 2020 election.
