‘They are bragging about donating the money to people who want to take my guns’: MTG rages after losing lawsuit
Lawsuit settled based on precedent set by decision on Trump’s Twitter account
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An angry Marjorie Taylor Greene took to Twitter to complain that as a result of a lawsuit she is prohibited from blocking other accounts on the platform.
The suit against the Georgia congresswoman by Los Angeles-based political action committee MeidasTouch LLC was filed after Ms Greene blocked the group on Twitter for posts that criticised her and former President Donald Trump.
In settling the suit, Ms Greene is also paying $10,000 of the group’s legal fees, which they have said will be donated to gun reform organisations.
“Because of this PAC’s frivolous lawsuit against me, I’m not allowed to block people that threaten my life and my children’s lives every single day on social media,” Ms Greene tweeted.
“And they are bragging about donating the money to organizations that want to take away my guns, so I couldn’t defend myself and my children, when people show up to murder us like they threaten.”
Read more:
- White House news live: Kamala Harris to lead border crisis response
- Ted Cruz mocked for midnight visit to Rio Grande
- Biden says Chinese president Xi Jinping ‘doesn’t have a democratic bone’ in his body
- McConnell complains Biden hasn’t spoken to him or invited him to White House since inauguration
- Photos reveal Biden’s secret press conference cheat sheets
“This PAC is celebrating that a woman (me) can’t block people that want to kill me and my kids,” she added. “What an accomplishment for them.”
Ms Green accompanied her tweets with screenshots of a post in which she is attacked and an apparent direct message in which her children are threatened.
MeidasTouch tweeted: “We’ve settled our lawsuit against Marjorie Taylor Greene! She will pay $10K for our legal fees and is no longer allowed to block the public on Twitter. We will donate the $10K savings to @MomsDemand and @Ribbons4Jaime – two organisations pushing for common sense gun reform.”
A previous federal appeals court decision in a suit that involved Mr Trump, said that political figures are not able to block their critics on public Twitter accounts.
The ruling set a precedent for all political figures on the basis that blocking violates First Amendment rights to free speech.
New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez settled a similar suit in 2019 after she blocked a former Brooklyn assemblyman.
In a statement at the time, she said: “I have reconsidered my decision to block Dov Hikind from my Twitter account. Mr Hikind has a First Amendment right to express his views and should not be blocked for them. In retrospect, it was wrong and improper and does not reflect the values I cherish. I sincerely apologise for blocking Mr Hikind.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments