(Headline USA) Twitter said Sunday it had banned the personal account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for violations of the platform’s COVID-19 misinformation policy.
The Georgia Republican’s account was permanently suspended under the “strike” system Twitter launched in March, which uses artificial intelligence to identify posts about the coronavirus that are misleading enough to cause harm to people.
Two or three strikes earn a 12-hour account lock. Four strikes prompt a weeklong suspension. Five or more strikes can get someone permanently removed from Twitter.
In a statement on the messaging app Telegram, Greene blasted Twitter’s move. She wrote that her account was suspended after tweeting statistics from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.
“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.”
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.
The first-term has repeatedly made statements that anger left-wingers, resulted in her being kicked out of committees and has been called “a cancer for the Republican Party,” by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
In July, Twitter suspended Greene for a week after President Joe Biden urged tech companies to take stronger action against claims that the vaccine is 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 week, Greene also tweeted about talking to the former president by phone. She said she had received Trump’s permission to clarify his stance that he is against vaccine mandates, though he encourages people to get the vaccine and booster.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
