It’s not exactly surprising that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) — a politician who’s built her career by promoting viral conspiracy theories like QAnon — was suspended on Sunday from Twitter and on Monday from Facebook for posting misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.
It’s equally unsurprising that Greene and her supporters reacted by accusing Twitter and Facebook of censoring her for her political beliefs, rather than for making repeated false statements denying the harms of Covid-19 and the effectiveness of vaccines.
But Marjorie Taylor Greene’s suspension from social media resurfaces a question ahead of the anniversary of the January 6 Capitol riot and the 2022 midterm election cycle: How will social media companies deal with the oncoming onslaught of contentious speech from elected officials and political candidates running for office this year?
“I haven’t seen or heard anything about how [social media companies] are planning on handling it,” said Katie Harbath, a director of public policy at Facebook from 2011 to March of last year who now leads a tech policy consultancy firm. “From what I’ve seen, they wait until something’s at their front door that they have to decide on. I’m just really worried.”
In 2019 and 2020, the world was caught up in a fierce debate about whether or not tech companies should intervene when politicians like former President Donald Trump used social media to broadcast harmful misinformation or encourage violence. That debate peaked...
Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP advises Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) investors that the firm is investigating potential legal claims arising from alleged false and misleading statements about the co...