Greene cites her Twitter ban in opposing TikTok bill

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) cited an earlier ban on Twitter, the platform now known as X, in opposing a bill to ban TikTok on Wednesday.

“I stand up today as the only member of Congress who has been banned by social media,” Greene said on the House floor as the House prepared to vote on the bill.

“Twitter banned me, banned my personal account where I campaigned for Congress, and used my freedom of speech to raise money and let voters in my district know they could vote for me.” she continued. “This is not from a Chinese-owned company. This is from American-owned Twitter.”

Greene was suspended from the platform then known as Twitter in January 2022 for violating its policies against misinformation about the coronavirus. Her account was reinstated in November 2022 after Elon Musk acquired the social media company.

“I believe this bill could cause problems in the future,” Green added. “It’s opening Pandora’s box.”

The House ultimately voted 352-65 in favor of the bill. The bill would require TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to exit the video-based social media app or face a ban in the United States.

Greene, a close ally of former President Trump, also went after Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook’s parent company Meta, on Wednesday.

Trump previously vowed to ban TikTok as president, but he has recently spoken out against the bill, suggesting it would give more power to Facebook and Zuckerberg. The former president was banned from Facebook following the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

“Democrats are claiming election interference can happen on social media,” Greene said Wednesday. “Well, we could never forget Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. We can never forget the election interference that happened there.”

Green also questioned who would buy TikTok if ByteDance was forced to exit the popular app.

“That’s the question we need to ask,” Green said. “Who’s going to buy it? Who will be next in control of the data of over 170 million Americans? Can we trust Mark Zuckerberg to control it? Certainly not. .”