Twitter permanently suspends one of Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's accounts for repeated violations of its COVID-19 misinformation policy

(CNN)Twitter has permanently suspended Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Twitter account @mtgreenee, the company confirmed to CNN Sunday morning.

CNN 2022-01-03 Donie O'Sullivan

Context & Ripple Effects

Twitter had already placed Greene on a seven-day suspension after identifying a fourth vaccine-misinformation strike, with a further offense identified as the threshold for a permanent ban. The account removal therefore completes the escalation outlined in the earlier fourth-strike suspension.

The action also sits within Twitter's willingness at the time to restrict prominent Republican officials' posts, including its earlier restriction of Matt Gaetz's violence-related tweet. Its later decision to stop enforcing the COVID-19 harmful-misinformation rules changes the significance of this ban from a one-off penalty to part of a policy era that was subsequently abandoned.

First-order effects

Greene loses access to @mtgreenee under Twitter's COVID-19 misinformation enforcement system, while Twitter demonstrates that its strike policy can culminate in removal for an elected official.
Twitter's trust-and-safety team must defend consistent application of the same escalation framework to other accounts accused of repeated COVID-19 misinformation.

Second-order effects

Other high-profile users facing COVID-19 misinformation penalties have a clearer incentive to test Twitter's strike thresholds and appeal processes, because Greene's case establishes permanent suspension as an active enforcement outcome.
The ban raises the political and operational stakes of Twitter's content rules: moderation decisions involving elected officials become a visible measure of whether the platform applies its policies evenly.

Third-order effects

Twitter's later end to enforcement of its harmful-misinformation policy shows how platform rule changes can recast prior suspensions, concentrating power over public speech in the company’s changing policy choices rather than in a durable enforcement regime.
If major platforms repeatedly adopt and retire issue-specific misinformation rules, political figures and audiences will increasingly treat account access as contingent on platform governance rather than as a stable distribution channel.

The trend: Platform moderation is moving from case-by-case enforcement against prominent accounts toward a broader contest over whether health-misinformation rules should exist at all.

Discussion

Twitter Help Center Twitter Help Center on x
COVID-19 misleading information policy
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
#BREAK Twitter has permanently suspended Marjorie Taylor Greene's account @mtgreenee for repeatedly sharing Covid-19 misinformation, the company said in a statement this morning. Greene still has access to @RepMTG. https://twitter.com/...
@ronfilipkowski Ron Filipkowski on x
MAGA meme welcoming Marge into the banned club. https://twitter.com/...
@jdvance1 J.D. Vance on x
Just totally absurd. These companies need to be crushed. https://twitter.com/...
@ngrossman81 Nicholas Grossman on x
OK, so we take the state assuming control of private businesses thing from socialism, but use it to force companies to act as message distributors for right-wing nationalist politicians. A “nationalist socialism” if you will. We can workshop the name later. https://twitter.com/..…
@laurenboebert Lauren Boebert on x
Twitter permanently suspended a sitting US President. They've now permanently suspended a sitting member of US Congress. Of course, both from the same party. They forget that in 2022 we are taking back the House and we WILL be holding them accountable!
@daveyalba Davey Alba on x
Since people are asking, here is the actual tweet that got Marjorie Taylor Greene permanently suspended. It is also described in our story.
@ggreenwald Glenn Greenwald on x
Having unelected tech oligarchs ban duly elected members of Congress - or even the sitting President - from using their massive platforms is dystopian. Remember how many world leaders warned that FB & Twitter's banning of Trump was a threat to democracy. https://www.cnbc.com/... …
@npr @npr on x
JUST IN: Twitter confirms to NPR that it has banned Marjorie Taylor Greene's account “for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy.”
@authorsjb Stewart Bint on x
If you come across COVID deniers or anti-vaxxers portraying opinions as facts, please report them. Twitter WILL take action. They're entitled to their opinion, but mustn't pretend they're facts. COVID-19 misleading information policy https://help.twitter.com/...
@rschooley Schooley on x
It's really pretty clear cut that Greene has just been daring them to do it for months. https://help.twitter.com/...
@mjfree Morgan J. Freeman on x
Belated Xmas gifts are the best! https://twitter.com/...
@scottpresler @scottpresler on x
On day 1 of Republicans taking control of the House & Senate in 2023, we need to introduce legislation providing for a Digital Bill of Rights. Freedom of speech includes the digital space.
@joelpollak Joel Pollak on x
What's really incredible are all the liberal replies cheering this blatant censorship. https://twitter.com/...
@electmikeharvey Mike Harvey on x
Marjorie Taylor Greene's permanent suspension from Twitter is a victory for democracy and a defeat for lies and propaganda. https://twitter.com/...
@kiminsley Kim Insley on x
@RepDeanPhillips I thought Twitter had a policy against vaccine misinformation? https://help.twitter.com/...
@jgreenblattadl Jonathan Greenblatt on x
This should have happened sooner. Our question: why is she suspended because of her COVID19 comments only? Rep. Greene spews hate and bigotry regularly, but she's not the only one. @Twitter shouldn't allow this content to exist in the first place. https://www.cnn.com/...
@kristenhewitt Kristen Hewitt on x
There no such thing as alternate facts. https://twitter.com/...
@repdeanphillips Rep. Dean Phillips on x
I am wholeheartedly opposed to government censorship - which this is not. https://twitter.com/...
@rweingarten Randi Weingarten on x
Politicians shouldn't be exempt from standards about spreading misinformation. Greene has repeatedly shown reckless disregard for those standards. This suspension is justified. https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
@justin_stangel Justin Stangel on x
But where will I get my racist misinformation???? https://twitter.com/...
@lionelmedia @lionelmedia on x
One of the biggest frauds and laughable assertions of nonsense was that Congress was going to do something about social media crackdowns on free speech and opinion. What a complete and total waste of time that was. How about that Facebook whistleblower? https://www.businessinside…
@julibriskman Juli Briskman on x
I credit @Twitter for this responsible move and policies regarding COVID misinformation. Not sure people should get five strikes, though. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@chrismessina Messina Eth on x
2022's first major political act of incoming Twitter CEO @paraga: https://twitter.com/...
@dcherring Dennis Herring on x
It is with great sadness that I report: https://twitter.com/...
@daveyalba Davey Alba on x
Last cut (for now, at least!!). Updated with comments from @Imi_Ahmed @CCDHate who told me he thinks Twitter could still do more to be consistent in its suspensions of high-profile users who post misinformation. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@mollyjongfast Molly Jong-Fast on x
MTG will fundraise off this https://twitter.com/...
@ericboehlert Eric Boehlert on x
these tears are real https://twitter.com/...
@digiphile Alex Howard on x
Not clear what tweet was the final strike, but @Twitter permanently suspended Rep. Green's personal account for repeatedly violating its #COVID19 misinformation @policy with false or misleading claims that could learn to harm https://help.twitter.com/... — not for glorifying viol…
@epro Emil Protalinski on x
What a joke suspension: “Greene, a right-wing Republican, most frequently tweeted from the handle @mtgreenee, which had more than 465,000 followers. She still has access to and can tweet from her official congressional account @RepMTG, which has more than 386,000 followers.” http…
@nickkristof Nicholas Kristof on x
Good to see @Twitter permanently suspending Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's personal account. We shouldn't lightly exclude someone from a public forum, but she's the online equivalent of a provocateur screaming “fire” in a crowded theater. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@piersmorgan Piers Morgan on x
I agree with this, but then how does Twitter justify letting the likes of the Taliban remain on their platform? https://twitter.com/...
@kathygriffin Kathy Griffin on x
She is NOT going to take this well. She may turn into the Hulk. Careful out there. https://twitter.com/...
@mattgaetz Matt Gaetz on x
Welcome to the Woketopia. Where information is controlled by the few. https://twitter.com/...
@romatorrenyc Roma Torre on x
Thank you Twitter! There is no room for her fascist flood of hate speech and disinformation in a democracy that honors the Constitution and the rule of law. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@elizaorlins Eliza Orlins on x
I had her blocked for ages because I hated seeing her tweets come up, but good riddance, MTG. And let's all commit not to amplifying terrible people in 2022—even if it's in disagreement! https://www.nytimes.com/...
@the_lastfudo Fudo on x
Again. Lost my step mom to covid. She was a firm supporter of misinfo. Please get vaxxed. For you and yours and us too https://twitter.com/...
@connieschultz Connie Schultz on x
Happy New Year. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@johnfugelsang John Fugelsang on x
On the bright side, Marjorie Taylor Greene hasn't tweeted any lies or sedition all day https://twitter.com/...
@micsolana Mike Solana on x
candidate running for marjorie taylor greene's seat requesting she be banned from twitter, only for this to happen a few days later, is the kind of very clearly insanely bad thing we should be able to talk about separately from anything greene actually said about covid. https://t…
@davidaxelrod David Axelrod on x
I am uneasy about banning anyone from social media platforms. But I'm even more uneasy about dimestore demagogues who use those platforms to spread misleading nonsense that could cost people their lives. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@koreanforeigner John Lee on x
It doesn't matter. I blocked her months ago, but journalists keep reporting what she says or does for the hate clicks, and my Twitter feed has been full of pictures and videos of her and captions of what she said. She might be crazy, but the media keeps spotlighting her. https://…
@bostonjoan Joan Donovan, PhD on x
Twitter coming out in the New Year making big moves. It'll be interesting to see if she uses her “work” account to post similar content. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@hholdenthorp Holden Thorp on x
Bad day for space lasers. Good day for the truth. https://twitter.com/...

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