US lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Twitter account temporarily suspended for vaccine misinformation
Marjorie Taylor Greene (file photo).
According to aTwitter spokesperson, the companytemporarily suspended Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene account at the microblogging siteon Monday eveningafter she shared misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines.The lawmakerhas a track record of incendiary rhetoric.
The Republican fromGeorgia will not be able to tweet for around 12 hours due to Twitter's policy against peoplewho repeatedly share misinformation,thespokespersonsaid.
Two tweets from Greene werelabeled as 'misleading' by thesocial media platform in recent days.
Greene could also be suspended from the platform permanently if sheagainshares misinformation about COVID-19using theTwitter account.
This move comes afterWhite Houseincreased pressure over the big tech companies in theSilicon Valleytotacklevaccine misinformation.
TheWhite House hadsingled out 12 people, who werebeing dubbed as the 'disinformation dozen’as they seem to have beenresponsible for a great deal of misinformationbeing circulatedabout COVID-19.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had said,"There's about 12 people,who are producing 65% of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms."
Thenon-profit Centrefor Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) had alsoreleased the statisticsin a report published in March, which saidabout a dozen people were super-spreaders of anti-vaccine misinformation.At the time, the CCDH hadaskedFacebook and Twitter to shut down all pages run by these people.
(Withinputs from agencies)