Twitter again suspends Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for COVID misinformation

This is the third such suspension for the Georgia representative, and it will last a week.

Rae Hodge Former senior editor

Rae Hodge was a senior editor at CNET. She led CNET's coverage of privacy and cybersecurity tools from July 2019 to January 2023. As a data-driven investigative journalist on the software and services team, she reviewed VPNs, password managers, antivirus software, anti-surveillance methods and ethics in tech. Prior to joining CNET in 2019, Rae spent nearly a decade covering politics and protests for the AP, NPR, the BBC and other local and international outlets.

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Rae Hodge

Aug. 10, 2021 2:36 p.m. PT

2 min read

gettyimages-1233470935 — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been suspended by Twitter.
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has again been temporarily suspended from Twitter for violating the site's rules against spreading misinformation related to COVID-19, the social network said Tuesday. The Georgia Republican's suspension, the third such, will last one week.

On Monday, Greene falsely claimed in a tweet that vaccines for COVID-19 were "failing" and that the Food and Drug Administration "should not approve the covid vaccines." Research has shown the vaccines are highly effective, and the FDA could give full approval to a vaccine in the coming weeks.

A Twitter spokesperson said the tweet was "labeled in line with our COVID-19 misleading information policy. The account will be in read-only mode for a week due to repeated violations of the Twitter rules."

Twitter's rules have long banned misinformation about the coronavirus, especially tweets containing false information that could lead people to do harm to themselves. In March, the company said it would begin labeling any tweets that may contain misleading information about the COVID-19 vaccine. It also introduced a "strike" system in which two or three strikes earn users a 12-hour account lock, four strikes get users a week-long account lock and five or more result in a permanent suspension from the social media site.

Last month, Greene was banned from the platform for 12 hours for violating its rules. Following that suspension, Greene accused Twitter of censoring her and violating her freedom of speech. Such protection, under the First Amendment, applies only to the government censoring speech.

Greene didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on her latest suspension.

Last month, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory saying health misinformation is an "urgent threat" to the public amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Though social networks such as Twitter have stepped up efforts to curb health misinformation, the spread of this type of content still continues to be a problem.