U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler’s Twitter account was suspended on Monday for violating the platform’s rules against hateful conduct, according to one of Hartzler’s top campaign advisers.
Hartzler’s account was suspended over a tweet in which she said “women’s sports are for women, not men pretending to be women.”
On her Twitter page, the post is hidden behind a notice saying it violated the site’s rules. Several other tweets targeting a collegiate swimmer who is transgender remain on her page.
“Men pretending to be women” is a statement often used to reject the identity of transgender people by those who oppose transgender rights. There are currently bills pending in statehouses across the country — including in Missouri — to prevent transgender children from being able to participate in youth sports.
According to Twitter’s platform use guidelines, Hartzler’s account will be suspended for 12 hours unless the Tweet that violated the site’s rules is taken down.
Hartzler’s campaign criticized Twitter for suspending her account and questioned why the site hasn’t prevented Russian President Vladimir Putin from posting. The Kremlin’s Twitter account last posted at 1:21 p.m. E.T.
“It’s shameful, utterly ridiculous, and a horrible abuse of censorship by big tech giants to stifle free speech,” the campaign said in a statement.
The campaign said it had no plans to take down the tweet.
Hartzler, who is a conservative Christian, launched a statewide television ad earlier this month that LGBTQ groups called transphobic. It targeted a collegiate swimmer and used both her name and photo before she transitioned. Hartzler has tweeted the image, which implies that the woman transitioned in order to gain a competitive advantage, several times.
The swimmer drew national attention from conservatives and anti-trans activists because she started competing in the women’s division after beginning her medical transition in 2019. She formerly competed for the men’s team.
Hartzler’s opposition to transgender-rights is consistent with her longstanding views on LGBTQ issues. In 2017, she introduced an amendment to a bill funding the U.S. military to prevent transgender people from serving. In 2004, she was the spokeswoman for the campaign to add language banning same-sex marriage to the Missouri Constitution. On her official Congress page, Hartzler says she supports Missourians' “right” to define marriage as between a man and a woman.
“I will continue champion marriage as the union of one man and one woman so every child has the opportunity to be loved and known by a mom and a dad,” Hartzler said.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the U.S. constitution guarantees a right to same sex marriage.
Conservatives have often claimed they are censored on mainstream social media and sites have sprung up in attempts to attract a conservative audience. At least two — Gettr and Parler — are an attempt to create a conservative alternative to Twitter. Earlier this month, former President Donald Trump soft-launched his own social media platform called Truth Social.
Trump was banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in 2021 in response to his role in the January 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.
Hartzler is not the first U.S. Senate candidate to have a post taken down on social media. Last month, YouTube removed a video posted by Rep. Billy Long because it violated their community guidelines. Long’s video falsely claimed the 2020 U.S. presidential election was stolen from Trump.
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