Elon Musk Springs Republican Congresswoman's Account from Twitter Jail
As Twitter continues to change under the new ownership of Elon Musk, some controversial public figures who had previously had their accounts suspended have been reactivated on the social media platform. Now, Marjorie Taylor Greene’s personal account, which had been permanently suspended in January 2022, has also been reactivated.
Greene, a Republican representative for Georgia, had her personal Twitter account suspended for violating the platform’s COVID misinformation policy, the New York Times reported.
According to Twitter at the time, that was Greene’s “fifth strike,” which meant that her personal account would remain deactivated permanently, the Times reported.
Her official, Congressional account, however, was not penalized and remained active.
But as things continue to change under Musk’s new ownership, Greene’s account, along with former President Donald Trump’s, the controversial internet social media figure Andrew Tate’s, the Babylon Bee’s, Jordan Peterson’s, Kathy Griffin’s, and Kanye West’s accounts, have all been reactivated, Business Insider reported.
On Nov. 18, Musk tweeted the news of some of the initial big reinstatements, along with comments about Twitter’s policy of free speech and some of his goals for the platform.
“New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach. Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter. You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet,” Musk’s first tweet read.
New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach.
Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter.
You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022
“Kathie Griffin, [Jordan] Peterson & Babylon Bee have been reinstated. Trump decision has not yet been made,” he then added in the thread.
Kathie Griffin, Jorden Peterson & Babylon Bee have been reinstated.
Trump decision has not yet been made.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022
“Will my personal/campaign account be re-instated?” Greene (from her Congressional account) then tweeted in response.
Will my personal/campaign account be re-instated?
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) November 18, 2022
Greene was reinstated on Monday, just after Trump who was also allowed back on the platform on Saturday, The Hill reported.
Greene announced the comeback of her personal account in a tweet, encouraging the followers of her Congressional account to “Go follow @mtgreenee for MTG unfiltered ;)”
“I’m the only Member of Congress the unelected big tech oligarchs permanently banned. On January 2, 2022, they violated my freedom of speech and ability to campaign & fundraise crying ‘covid misinformation.’ My account is back,” Greene tweeted on Monday afternoon.
I’m the only Member of Congress the unelected big tech oligarchs permanently banned.
On January 2, 2022, they violated my freedom of speech and ability to campaign & fundraise crying “covid misinformation.”
My account is back.
Go follow @mtgreenee for MTG unfiltered 😉
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) November 21, 2022
Some on Twitter were excited to see Greene’s personal account back.
“BREAKING: MTG’s campaign account @mtgreenee is BACK!” tweeted Greg Price from X Strategies, a conservative consultant group.
BREAKING: MTG’s campaign account @mtgreenee is BACK! pic.twitter.com/5OUycDCO2M
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 21, 2022
“Uh oh … in a good way,” another user tweeted.
Uh oh … in a good way 😊
— Johnny (@Johnny87973771) November 21, 2022
Greene’s reinstated, personal account now has over 531 thousand followers.
These changes come in the midst of what many are saying is an overhaul of Twitter under Musk.
Not only are formerly suspended accounts being reactivated, but hundreds of Twitter employees have also been laid off, while more resigned as a result of Musk’s “ultimatum” that he issued last week, The Verge reported.
After initially laying off about half of Twitter’s employees after his takeover, Musk also asked employees to either leave or commit to doing harder work that meant “long hours and high intensity,” according to The Verge.
Many workers resigned after that.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg also reported on Monday that Musk had begun to fire more employees in the platform’s sales department starting on Sunday night.
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