Twitter permanently bans Marjorie Taylor Greene's account for spreading COVID misinformation

The decision comes just one year after former President Donald Trump was banned from the platform

Published January 2, 2022 10:50AM (EST)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., argues with Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., off camera, during by a Build Back Better for Women rally held by Democrats on the House steps of the U.S. Capitol on Friday, September 24, 2021. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., argues with Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., off camera, during by a Build Back Better for Women rally held by Democrats on the House steps of the U.S. Capitol on Friday, September 24, 2021. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Twitter has permanently suspended one of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's accounts for "repeated violations" of its COVID-19 misinformation policy, a spokesperson for the service confirmed Sunday.

The suspended account, @mtgreenee, was her personal and more prolific account. She will still be allowed to post from her official Congressional page, @RepMTG.

Her final tweet falsely referenced "extremely high amounts of Covid vaccine deaths" — a phenomenon with no basis in reality that nonetheless has been often repeated across right-wing media. The social media giant called it her fifth and final "strike."

The controversial representative has been suspended from Twitter temporarily in the past for spreading false information about COVID-19 and conspiracies related to the 2020 election. The company warned her back in August that it would permanently take down her account if she violated its policies again, calling a post about vaccines "failing" her fourth "strike." She was also suspended from the platform less than a month earlier for another post that claimed COVID-19 was not dangerous to anyone unless they are obese or elderly.

"We've been clear that, per our strike system for this policy, we will permanently suspend accounts for repeated violations of the policy," Katie Rosborough, a Twitter spokeswoman, told The New York Times in a statement.


Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.


Twitter's decision to permanently ban a sitting congressperson comes just one year after it decided to hand down a similar ban to then-President Donald Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

In response to the ban, Greene released a statement on alternative social platform Telegram, a favorite of the far-right for its lax moderation strategies.

"Social media platforms can't stop the truth from being spread far and wide. Big Tech can't stop the truth. Communist Democrats can't stop the truth. I stand with the truth and the people. We will overcome!"

Read more on MTG (if you must):


By Brett Bachman

Brett Bachman was the Nights/Weekend Editor at Salon.

MORE FROM Brett Bachman


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Brief Covid-19 Disinformation Marjorie Taylor Greene Misinformation Mtg Social Media Twitter