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Twitter suspends account of Marjorie Taylor Greene

Republican congresswoman has expressed support for QAnon conspiracy theories

US congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene with fellow first-term Republican members of Congress on the steps of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, in January. Photograph: AFP via Getty Images

Mon Jan 18 2021 - 07:53

Twitter on Sunday temporarily suspended the account of Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican congresswoman from Georgia who has expressed support for QAnon conspiracy theories online.

Ms Greene’s account was suspended “without explanation”, she said in a statement, while also condemning big tech companies for “silencing” conservative views.

The businesswoman (46) and political newcomer was elected to represent Georgia’s 14th District in November.

She has gained large followings on social media in part by posting incendiary videos and comments and has also embraced QAnon, a far-right US conspiracy theory centred around the debunked belief that US president Donald Trump is waging a secret campaign against enemies in the "deep state" and a child sex trafficking ring they say is linked to Democrats.

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On Sunday, Ms Greene posted a clip from an interview with a local news outlet in which she condemned Georgia election officials and expressed support for debunked theories claiming that voting machines, absentee ballots and other issues led to widespread fraud in the state during the presidential election.

Twitter responded to the tweet, and others, with a message that called the election fraud claim “disputed” and said it posed “a risk of violence”.

A statement from Ms Greene’s team on Sunday included screenshots from Twitter which appeared to show the company informing the congresswoman she had violated its rules and would be prohibited from interacting with content on the site for 12 hours.

Ms Greene urged Congress to "act to protect free speech" in her statement.

The action comes a little more than a week after Twitter banned Mr Trump from the platform, citing “the risk of further incitement of violence” following the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol this month.

As of January 12th, Twitter had also suspended more than 70,000 accounts associated with QAnon as it attempted to rein in harmful activity ahead of Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration.

The firm has said it is taking action against online behaviour “that has the potential to lead to offline harm” after the mob of Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol building on January 6th.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ms Greene’s suspension. – PA

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