Facebook Suspends Marjorie Taylor Greene After Permanent Twitter Ban, She Says

Topline

Conspiracy theory-espousing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has been suspended from Facebook following a permanent Twitter ban for spreading Covid misinformation, the congresswoman said Monday, as top Congressional Republicans move to condemn big tech over the ban.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) listens during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in … [+] Washington on Dec. 7, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Key Facts

Greene shared a screenshot on her Telegram channel Monday purportedly showing Facebook had suspended her from posting for 24 hours due to a violation of community standards.

Facebook representatives did not respond to a request for comment from Forbes seeking confirmation of the suspension and details of the policies Greene may have violated.

Twitter permanently suspended Greene’s account on Sunday following “repeated violations” of its Covid misinformation policies, with the company claiming Greene had hit strike five of its five-strike policy when it comes to violating standards, which results in a permanent ban.

Though it’s not clear what led to the suspension, Greene said she was banned from Twitter following a post that referenced the federal government’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a system of measuring vaccine safety that contains unverified reports that are frequently used by Covid vaccine skeptics to spread misinformation about the vaccines’ safety.

Greene said her temporary Facebook suspension also came after a post referencing VAERS.

Crucial Quote

“Who appointed Twitter and Facebook to be the authorities of information and misinformation?” Greene said on Telegram Monday.

Key Background

The top two House Republicans lined up to take shots at big tech Monday following Greene’s suspension. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) released a statement saying “it is clear any speech that does not fit Big Tech’s orthodoxy gets muzzled,” while House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) tweeted Republicans plan to “hold Big Tech accountable” for suspensions of GOP officials. Republicans have increasingly expressed outrage over platforms like Facebook and Twitter taking a tougher stance on misinformation, especially when it comes to issues like Covid and false claims of election fraud. Greene has a history of pushing conspiracy theories on both of those issues, along with numerous others, and she has already faced consequences for her previous activity on social media. In February of 2021, the House voted to strip Greene of her committee assignments over her prior support for the QAnon conspiracy theory and endorsing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s execution.

Tangent

Podcaster Joe Rogan joined Gettr, a platform popular among those on the political right as an alternative to Twitter, on Sunday following Greene’s suspension, saying he did so “just in case sh-t over at Twitter gets even dumber.” Gettr claimed in a news release that 171,629 new users signed up Sunday—the biggest in one day since it launched July 4, 2021.

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