OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
As liberals behind big tech continue their onslaught against the basic and fundamental right of free speech by censoring and banning anyone who expresses an unallowed opinion, China’s state-run Global Times published an article in support of Twitter.
The publication gloated that Twitter’s ban of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene proves the Chinese Communist Party’s point that “freedom of speech” is an illusion.
The article also claims Americans are hypocrites for criticizing China’s vast censorship.
President Donald Trump was banned over a false left-wing narrative that the events of January 6th were an organized attempt to overturn the presidential election result. An extensive FBI investigation found “no evidence that Trump or people directly around him were involved in organizing the violence.”
More recently, Republican Rep Marjorie Taylor of Georgia was permanently suspended for allegedly sharing “misinformation” by expressing an opinion about COVID-19 which could cause “significant harm.”
Twitter claims that they ban content that is “demonstrably false or misleading” and presents a “significant risk of harm.”
After multiple strikes against this policy, Twitter punishes users by locking their account for 7 days or permanently suspending them.
Rep. Greene was initially banned for one week after she claimed that vaccines are “failing.”
She later claimed that “the FDA should not approve the covid vaccines” because “there are too many reports of infection & spread of COVID-10 among vaccinated people.”
“These vaccines are failing,” Greene said, adding that they “do not reduce the spread of the virus & neither do masks. Vaccine mandates & passports violate individual freedoms,” she added.
Rep. Greene’s personal account was eventually permanently suspended.
Facebook also suspended Greene’s page soon after Twitter took action against her.
China’s Global Times says this is proof that America is hypocritical for objecting to China’s allegedly more rational and orderly system of state-imposed censorship:
“From Trump to Greene, the permanent ban on their personal Twitter account indicates that in the US, there is no absolute freedom of speech either. There are clear boundaries on freedom of speech. The voices must conform to laws and regulations and cannot impair national interests,” [China Foreign Affairs University professor Li Haidong] said.
Here’s the article:
#Opinion: When banning personal accounts of Trump and Greene, the US defends it with a legitimate explanation; when China adopts similar practices, the US portrays them as “suppressing speech freedom.” Applying double standards in such a way is despicable. https://t.co/crbnJCZHcw
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) January 3, 2022
CNN reporter Donie O’Sullivan confirmed that Twitter released a statement that read: “We permanently suspended @mtrgreene for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy.”
“We’ve been clear that, per our strike system for this policy,” Twitter continued, “we will permanently suspend accounts for repeated violations of the policy.”
Greene was suspended again for saying that COVID-19 “was not dangerous for people under the age of 65 who are not obese.”
Twitter admitted that they twice suspended her account in March and again in April “in error” because the company relies on “automated systems” to detect unallowed opinions.
Rep Green still has access to her congressional Twitter account with nearly 400,000 followers.
Twitter has allowed left-wing politicians, such as Maxine Waters, Kamala Harris, and Ilhan Omar, to encourage violent rioters to take to the streets who have destroyed businesses and cost Americans lives.
Twitter also has repeatedly allowed its platform to be used by radical jihadists who organize globally to spread terrorism and kill innocent people.
Greene responded to Twitter’s ban by saying “Twitter is an enemy to America and can’t handle the truth.”
“When Maxine Waters can go to the streets and threaten violence on Twitter, Kamala and Ilhan can bail out rioters on Twitter, and Chief spokesman for terrorist IRGC can tweet mourning Soleimani but I get suspended for tweeting VAERS statistics, Twitter is an enemy to America and can’t handle the truth,” Green said.
“That’s fine, I’ll show America we don’t need them and it’s time to defeat our enemies,” she added.
Twitter guidelines on COVID-19 misinformation state: “You may not use Twitter’s services to share false or misleading information about COVID-19 which may lead to harm.”
“Content that is demonstrably false or misleading and may lead to (such as increased exposure to the virus, or adverse effects on public health systems) may not be shared on Twitter,” the social platform states.
“This includes sharing content that may mislead people about the nature of the COVID-19 virus; the efficacy and/or safety of preventative measures, treatments, or other precautions to mitigate or treat the disease; official regulations, restrictions, or exemptions pertaining to health advisories; or the prevalence of the virus or risk of infection or death associated with COVID-19.”
