Another conservative voice has been suspended by a social media platform; and whenever that happens, there are claims of censorship from the right.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Twitter account has been suspended for one week after she committed another violation of the rules.
On Monday, Greene tweeted that the Food and Drug Administration “should not approve the covid vaccines,” insisting that the vaccines were not effectively slowing the spread of the virus.
Twitter declared the tweet misleading and suspended her for one week.
This new suspension of Rep. Greene’s account is the third time she has violated Twitter's rules, which she agreed to follow when she signed up for the social media platform.
In January, Greene was suspended for 12 hours for posting absurd conspiracy theories regarding the Georgia Senate runoff election. In July, she was suspended again for 12 hours sharing more misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccines.
This current one-week suspension of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Twitter account is at least her third suspension. Violating Twitter's rules five or more times can lead to a permanent suspension.
This is NOT censorship. Do not buy into any of the ridiculous rhetoric suggesting that Marjorie Taylor Greene or former President Trump are being silenced because of their conservative voices.
In the media, newspapers, websites, TV networks, radio stations, and any legitimate news media outlet are all guided by an editor or a news director whose job it is to hold journalists, reporters, and anchors accountable to tell the truth. There is a human element to reporting the news, and humans make mistakes. However, those mistakes are corrected. If not, then it is fair to define any media’s motive as the spreading of lies usually for the purpose of advancing a specific political agenda or ideology.
Social media is unique in that it allows anyone to become a reporter or an anchor in presenting news. Each individual is not held accountable by an editor or a news director and is free to fabricate lies. In the case of Twitter and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Facebook with former President Donald Trump, the social media platforms are acting as the editor or the news director and holding accountable those who post to tell the truth.
Demanding the truth from the media is not a new concept in America. The media in America is different from most countries in that it is free from government control. The FCC regulates the media but does not control content, with the exception of rules regarding profanity. And even those can be challenged by community standards.
The cable news outlets Newsmax and One America News have just been sued by Dominion Voting Systems for continuing to promote lies that the company’s was involved in rigging the 2020 presidential election in favor of President Joe Biden. Specific news anchors have also been named in the defamation lawsuits. Dominion is suing for more than $1.6 billion in damages - an amount that would cripple the struggling far-right news outlets.
The Fox News Channel is also being sued by Dominion for $1.6 billion for continuing to promote blatant lies about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Fox News has filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed on the grounds that Dominion is attempting to “stifle the media’s free-speech right to inform the public.”
Let’s set the record straight - the suspension of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from Twitter, the banning of former President Trump, and the lawsuits filed by Dominion Voting Systems are an example of holding all news media platforms accountable for presenting the truth in a free-market environment.
This is NOT censorship!
