McCarthy’s remarks about Marjorie Taylor Greene demonstrate that the GOP is pro-infection.
The Republican Party is a party that encourages defection. Republicans have demonstrated that they believe the unimpeded transfer of dangerous material — whether viral content or a genuine virus — is their prerogative, from their support of low Covid-19 safety rules to their tantrums over social media crackdowns on misinformation.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy reiterated his support for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., after Twitter disabled her personal account for breaking its Covid disinformation policy.
“Thought diversity is the lifeblood of our democracy,” McCarthy, R-Calif., asserted. “Yet, Big Tech — corporations with more power and control over more speech than any other institution in history — is undermining that essential American value.”
McCarthy was only lobbying for an extremist in his party who was properly punished for wrongdoing. Greene, of course, was not barred for expressing “different” viewpoints; she was barred for disseminating damaging disinformation. She specifically tweeted about “very high rates of Covid vaccination deaths” and provided a fake chart meant to make the vaccine appear harmful.
In a statement, Twitter revealed the truth:
We permanently suspended the account you mentioned (@mtgreenee) for violating our COVID-19 disinformation policy on multiple occasions. We’ve made it clear that, in accordance with our strike system for this policy, we will permanently suspend accounts for repeated policy infractions.
A day later, Facebook briefly banned Greene from spreading Covid falsehoods. Contrary to McCarthy’s argument, the suspensions were clearly not about free speech. Greene was not giving her cooking recipes (which I’m sure are unappealing in their own right). Despite repeated warnings, she continued to spread harmful disinformation.
Republicans, on the other hand, oppose efforts to combat misinformation in the same manner they oppose efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus: with the fundamental idea that their personal freedoms should take precedence over public safety.
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