Newsmax journalist permanently banned from Twitter for Covid misinformation hours after getting account back
A Newsmax journalist has been permanently banned from Twitter for spreading Covid-19 misinformation just hours after getting her account back.
A Twitter spokesperson confirmed to The Daily Beast that the social media platform had permanently suspended Newsmax White House correspondent Emerald Robinson after she repeatedly violated its rules against spreading Covid-19 misinformation.
Ms Robinson was initially slapped with a temporary one-week ban last week after she pushed a bizarre and debunked conspiracy theory linking the Covid-19 vaccine to the devil and claiming it contains a substance that makes people glow in the dark and allows them to be tracked.
Almost immediately after the ban was lifted on Tuesday, the correspondent began peddling the false claims again to her nearly 450,000 followers.
“Join me at Substack today before I’m banned again,” Ms Robinson tweeted on Tuesday morning, sharing a link to the subscription newsletter service where she reiterated the false claims.
“One more thing: the new COVID-19 antibody test is called SATiN and it uses Luciferase. No, I’m not kidding,” she wrote.
“It’s not an accident that they’ve given this name to this test. It’s a warning.”
By Tuesday evening, her profile @EmeraldRobinson read “Account suspended” once again.
The Twitter spokesperson said the right-wing journalist had received her fifth violation, resulting in a permanent ban.
Last week, Ms Robinson tweeted that the vaccine contains a bioluminescent marker called Luciferase and is linked to the book of Revelations and the devil.
“Dear Christians: the vaccines contain a bioluminescent marker called LUCIFERASE so that they can be tracked,” she wrote.
“Read the last book of the New Testament to see how this ends.”
The bizarre post is part of a wild conspiracy theory circulating online that the vaccine contains satanic particles or the “mark of the beast”.
The tweet was quickly deleted by Twitter for violating its rules and her account was suspended.
Luciferase is a real enzyme which has bioluminescent features, meaning it can in some circumstances produce light in living organisms, such as fireflies.
However it is not an ingredient in any of the Covid-19 vaccines on the market.
And it does not have satanic connections, with its name deriving from the Latin “lux” meaning light and “ferre” meaning to bring or bear.
Right-wing media outlet Newsmax, which repeatedly pushed false claims about the 2020 presidential election, even distanced itself from its employee, taking her off air and releasing two separate statements insisting the vaccine is “safe and effective”.
“Newsmax is a strong proponent that Covid-19 vaccines are overarchingly safe and effective, while at the same time raising concerns that mandates infringe on personal liberty and privacy,” said Newsmax executive vice president and chief content officer Elliot Jacobson.
“We have seen no evidence to suggest Luciferase or Luciferin are present in any vaccines or that they are used as any sort bioluminescent marker.”
Parent company Newsmax Media also issued a separate statement.
“Newsmax strongly believes and has reported that the Covid 19 vaccines are safe and effective,” it read.
“We do not believe the vaccines contain any toxic materials or tracking markers, and such false claims have never been reported on Newsmax.
“The many medical experts appearing on Newsmax have supported the use of the vaccine.”
Ms Robinson has repeatedly pushed vaccine skepticism to her followers over the last year including one post where she falsely claimed the shot “will rewrite your DNA”.
Her future with Newsmax is not yet clear.
A spokesperson for the right-wing outlet told The Daily Beast has “not determined when she will return to the air” and is reviewing matters on her personal social media.
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