People For Supporter –
We’re now seeing dangerous real-world consequences of the Far Right’s campaign of hate playing out in Americans’ everyday lives.
A recent report by NBC News details an incident on a California Amtrak train in which a same-sex couple and their children were verbally assaulted by a passenger accusing them of stealing their adopted son and of being “rapists” and “pedophiles.”[1]
When interviewed, the couple said it was not the first time they had been harassed in public but it was the first time the attack had been “laced with talking points from right-wing media and legislators.”
“As soon as he started saying ‘pedophiles’ and things like that, I thought he just seemed like he came preloaded with these statements,” recalled Robbie Pierce, one of the victims. “So, I thought, ‘Ugh, OK, we’re dealing with someone who’s consuming right-wing media.’”
Incidents like this will only become more common as long as the Far Right continues to push demonizing policies, propaganda, and rhetoric aimed at LGBTQ+ people and anyone who opposes their extremist, hateful agenda.
When far-right U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green tweeted that the three Republican senators who supported the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson were “pro-pedophile,” and then doubled down with another Tweet accusing her political opponents of “grooming” and “pro-pedophile politics,” we called on Twitter to remove Greene – who used her official congressional office account – from the platform.
We noted that this type of unacceptable rhetoric, which has no basis in reality and is purely born of hate, bigotry, and conspiracy theories, could lead to violence and that Twitter had a responsibility to act. Nearly 25,000 supporters agreed and have already added their name to our petition calling for Greene’s removal from Twitter.
Thank you for everything you do.
– Zach, Digital Team
Source:
[1] "Gay parents called 'rapists' and 'pedophiles' in Amtrak incident" NBC News, 4/15/22
----[original message below]----
Dear People For Supporter,
On Monday, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) reached a new low – from her official Congressional Twitter account – when she tweeted out the ludicrous assertion that three of her fellow Republicans are “pro-pedophile” for saying they’ll vote to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.
Greene’s personal Twitter account, you may recall, was already suspended in January for repeated violations of the company’s policies regarding COVID-19 misinformation.
The attack on Senators Murkowski, Collins and Romney is just the latest in wild, QAnon-inspired hate from the Far Right, and previews the disgusting smear tactics that they’ll try to use in this fall’s elections to take control of Congress.
Unfortunately, it also carries real potential to spur violent extremists into action, both against the tweet’s targets – as well as anyone else who shares their position that Judge Jackson should be confirmed.
It’s been obvious for quite some time that social media companies have a problem with violent extremists organizing on their platforms. And online misinformation often leads to real-world violence, such as the gunman who opened fire in a Washington D.C. pizzeria in 2017 based on information from far-right websites that the restaurant was the headquarters of a child trafficking operation.
Twitter, as a private company, regularly monitors their users’ postings and removes content that it finds to be hateful or intended to incite violence – as it should. Serial abusers like Greene, however, need to be held accountable with more decisive action, similar to how Donald Trump was removed from Twitter for his repeated lies about the 2020 election and their link to extremist, insurrectionist violence.
Rep. Greene’s baseless accusations from her Congressional account – coming on top of her previous suspension from her personal account, and a clear pattern of far-right extremists spurred to violence by online misinformation – cannot be allowed to stand.
Thank you for your activism on this issue and for everything you do to fight hate and defend democracy!
– Will Easton, People For's Digital Team
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