Twitter suspends Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for 'misleading' COVID-19 information

Twitter said it had suspended the account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for 12 hours as she came back on the platform and accused them of censorship.

The social media platform suspended Greene around 9 p.m ET on Monday for violating its policy after posting misleading two tweets about COVID-19.

After staying quiet overnight, Greene emerged back on Twitter shortly after 9 a.m. ET Tuesday criticizing the platform, saying it censored her and violated "my freedom of speech," and compared Twitter to "Communist China."

Greene ran afoul of Twitter's policies for two tweets posted Sunday and Monday by saying that the coronavirus wasn't dangerous for people under the age of 65 who are not obese, and said vaccines should not be required.

"We took enforcement action on the account @mtgreenee for violations of the Twitter Rules, specifically the COVID-19 misleading information policy," a Twitter spokesman said in an emailed statement. According to Twitter, Greene's 12-hour ban was her second strike for repeatedly sharing misinformation about the virus to her nearly 426,000 followers. Greene will get a similar 12-hour ban if she gets a third strike. And the platform will suspend her for seven days if she gets a fourth strike. Greene could be banned from Twitter if she gets a fifth strike.

Greene's tweets still appear on her Twitter account but with a "misleading" tag.

Greene's tweets come as COVID-19 cases across the U.S. continue to climb as the delta variant is now accounting for more than half of the new infections across the country. Last week, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data determined that all 50 states reported more COVID-19 cases in the most recent seven-day period than in the week before – a 70% spike.

A little less than half of the U.S. population, 48.4%, is fully vaccinated, and a little more than half, 55.9%, has had at least one shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Greene's suspension also comes after President Joe Biden criticized social media platforms to do a better job of fighting the spread of vaccine misinformation on its sites. Biden was hoping to have 70% of American adults at least half-vaccinated by Fourth of July, but the U.S. failed to meet his administration's goal.

The president softened his criticism of Facebook, days after he stirred controversy and said the world's largest social network is “killing people” because of vaccine misinformation the tech giant allows to circulate on its platform.

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"Facebook isn’t killing people," Biden said in response to a reporter's question on Monday. "These 12 people who are out there giving misinformation – anyone listening to it is getting hurt by it."

In March, Twitter said it was taking a tougher stance on pandemic misinformation for repeated violations of its policy, including a 12-hour suspension. This included a brief suspension of Greene's account in April, but Twitter later said that it was a mistake due to an automated error.

"Everyone knows that's a LIE, and it was no mistake," Greene tweeted afterward.

Twitter said since introducing its COVID-19 guidance last year, the platform has "challenged 11.7 million accounts, suspended 1,496 accounts, and removed more than 43,010 pieces of content worldwide."

Contributing: Maureen Groppe and Ella Lee

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Twitter suspends Marjorie Taylor Greene for COVID-19 misinformation