Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said that she would be appealing her personal Twitter account's suspension in light of Elon Musk's pending purchase of the platform and would invite him to a discussion on free speech with other banned Twitter users.
The Georgia Republican, whose account was permanently suspended in January for spreading "misinformation" about COVID-19, said she is "cautiously optimistic" about Musk and would "definitely appeal" the decision to ban her during a Thursday press conference. Though Greene also supports former President Donald Trump's new platform Truth Social, she said it's important to her to have access to a personal Twitter account without the restrictions that govern her congressional account, which remains intact.
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She also announced that she would invite Musk to Washington, D.C., for a roundtable discussion with herself and other people with high-profile Twitter accounts who were banned from the website.
"I don't know Mr. Musk, but I do invite him to come talk with me in Washington, D.C.," Greene said. "I'd be happy to put together a roundtable of all the most brilliant people who have been unjustly banned from Twitter, and he can see for himself the urgent necessity of doing right by them, which we all hope he will, as he has stated that he believes in free speech."
Greene added that Infowars host Alex Jones and provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos are on the "great list of people who have been almost deleted from public life due to this type of censorship" who would be invited to the discussion.
Along with Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Greene is introducing a new bill to bring social media content moderation into the present era. Called the 21st Century Freedom Act, its goal is to provide "reasonable, nondiscriminatory access" to social media by ensuring transparency in content policy and abolishing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 ensures that websites are treated as carriers and not publishers of what users post but also lets them remove content they deem offensive.
“It’s long-past time that Congress abolish Section 230, rein in dominant Big Tech companies, and put the American people back in charge of what they say and hear in the modern public square,” Hagerty said in a statement.
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Greene said that they would not be pushing the bill until after the midterm elections, when they hope Republicans will retake majorities in the House and Senate.
In the days since the sale of Twitter to Musk was announced, many conservative-leaning users have seen their followers and engagement increase. Greene's congressional account saw an increase of over 150,000 followers since Monday when the sale was announced. Trump has said he will not return to Twitter.