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Twitter has permanently suspended Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greeneโs personal account for repeatedly violating the platformโs rules on COVID-19 misinformation, as noted in a report by CNN. Since the ban only affects Greeneโs personal Twitter account, @mtgreenee, she can still access and tweet from her governmental account, @RepMTG.
In a statement to The Verge, Twitter spokesperson Katie Rosborough explains that the platform โpermanently suspendedโ Greeneโs account โfor repeated violationsโ of the platformโs COVID-19 policies. โWeโve been clear that, per our strike system for this policy, we will permanently suspend accounts for repeated violations of the policy,โ she adds.
Twitter implemented a five-strike system in March 2021, which puts a lock on usersโ accounts if they post tweets containing misinformation about COVID-19 โ the more strikes a user accrues, the longer they’re temporarily barred from their account. If a user receives five strikes, however, their account gets permanently suspended. Twitter didnโt confirm which tweet was Greeneโs final strike.
Greene responded to the situation in a post on Telegram and Facebook. โTwitter is an enemy to America and canโt handle the truth,โ Greene states. โSocial media platforms canโt stop the truth from being spread far and wide.โ She also claims she was suspended for tweeting out data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a database that stores information about potential adverse reactions to vaccines โ including the COVID-19 vaccines.
Last year, Greene was suspended from Twitter several times for violating the platform’s policies. Her account was temporarily banned for violating Twitterโs civic integrity policy, and was later suspended on two separate occasions after tweeting misleading information about COVID-19.