Bloomberg: Uh-Oh, It’s Another Election Year on Social Media

2022 had barely dawned when Facebook and Twitter waded into their first big political controversy of the year. On Jan 2., Twitter Inc. permanently suspended the personal account of Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, citing the Republican’s continued use of the account to spread misleading health information about Covid‑19 in violation of the platform’s rules. The next day, Meta Platforms Inc. followed with a 24-hour suspension of her Facebook account.

The move inspired predictable condemnation from Republican politicians. “Welcome to the Woketopia,” tweeted Florida Representative Matt Gaetz; Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance tweeted a screenshot of Greene’s suspended account, along with the message: “These companies need to be crushed.”

2022 is likely to be a year full of social media companies making content moderation decisions that politicians don’t like. Elections create an incentive for overheated or misleading claims, and all 435 seats in the House are up for grabs, as well as 34 of the 100 Senate seats. “Campaigns are using election disinformation in really novel ways, and we’re going to see more of that in 2022,” says Jesse Littlewood, vice president for campaigns at the good government group Common Cause.

This puts the companies in an awkward situation. Greene may be violating their policies, but she’s also a sitting public official running for reelection. At a time when most candidates rely on social media to communicate with voters, such a ban is effectively a decision to keep someone from being a full participant in electoral politics.