Firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called Twitter “an enemy to America” after her personal account on the social media platform was permanently suspended on Sunday for allegedly violating the company’s COVID-19 misleading information policy. She revealed Monday that she’s also been suspended by Facebook for 24 hours due to a similar violation.
“Facebook has joined Twitter in censoring me. This is beyond censorship of speech. I’m an elected Member of Congress representing over 700,000 US tax paying citizens and I represent their voices, values, defend their freedoms, and protect the Constitution. But apparently they too think the CDC managed #VAERS system on our own government websites are misinformation,” Greene noted on the social platform GETTR Monday.
“To date there has been ZERO investigation into reported Covid deaths from government mandated #covid vaccines. Who appointed Twitter and Facebook to be the authorities of information and misinformation? When Big Tech decides what political speech of elected members is accepted and what’s not then they are working against our government and against the interest of our people.”
Twitter permanently suspended Greene after she shared information on Saturday alleging “extremely high amounts of Covid vaccine deaths.” In her tweet, she included a chart from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, a government database that keeps track of claims of complications from vaccines submitted by members of the American public.
Many have pointed to the VAERS database to voice concerns about the potential effects of the coronavirus vaccines. The project is jointly managed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to serve as an “early warning system to detect possible safety problems in U.S.-licensed vaccines.” Anyone can report to the database and healthcare professionals are required to report certain adverse events. Manufacturers are required to report adverse events that come to their attention.
A disclosure on the website says that the database is not “designed to determine if a vaccine caused a health problem, but is especially useful for detecting unusual or unexpected patterns of adverse event reporting that might indicate a possible safety problem with a vaccine.”
A Twitter spokesperson told The New York Times that the tweet marked Greene’s fifth time violating its COVID-19 misinformation policies, thereby earning her the permanent suspension.
“We’ve been clear that, per our strike system for this policy, we will permanently suspend accounts for repeated violations of the policy,” Twitter spokesperson Katie Rosborough told the publication.
The ruling can be appealed if the post in question is later determined to be true.
The CDC maintains that COVID-19 vaccines “are safe and effective” and recommended for anyone ages 5 or older.
Critics contend that opponents of vaccines misinterpret the VAERS data to make false claims about vaccines.
Greene pushed back on the assertion that she had used all five strikes in a GETTR post Monday: “Twitter forgot about the two times they accidentally suspended my account this past year. That means I’ve only had 3 strikes in their 5 strike system. Twitter has to reinstate my account immediately.”
In a Facebook post published Sunday after her suspension, Greene called the company “an enemy to America” that “can’t handle the truth.”
Additionally, Greene alleged a double standard in the enforcement of the Twitter rules:
“Maxine Waters can go to the streets and threaten violence on Twitter, Kamala and Ilhan can bail out Black Lives Matter terrorists on Twitter, CNN and the rest of the Democrat Propaganda Media can spread Russian collusion lies, and just yesterday, the Chief spokesman for terrorist IRGC can tweet mourning Soleimani, but I get suspended for tweeting VAERS statistics.”
She also claimed on GETTR that Twitter will be “irrelevant” by the end of 2022.
“By the end of this year, Twitter will be irrelevant and will lose it’s grip on American politics. The arrogant puppet masters should have learned over this last year that silly punishments like kicking me off committees and permanent Twitter bans don’t work on me, they only make me more determined, stronger, & effective,” she wrote.
“I’m not here for the club, I’m only here for the People, which the elites in our government and all powerful media/big tech, and their Communist Global partners just want to abuse and control. They will fail and the People will win,” she continued. “When I’m pushed out, I’m able to see very clearly the problems, how to fix the broken system, and more importantly who are the ones to blame. Yesterday started very big things. The sun is setting on Twitter.”
Greene, who presents herself as a strong Christian in Congress, does not shy away from confrontational politics. In September, she got into a heated exchange with Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., over what it means to be a good Christian shortly after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would codify the right to abortion into federal law
