Twitter suspended the account of Republican congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (Mo.) on Monday after she said, "Women's sports are for women, not men pretending to be women."
The tweet was made following others that reference transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, a biologically male athlete who formerly swam for the University of Pennsylvania men's team but now competes on the women's team. Hartzler's campaign reported the account suspension, saying the move was a "shameful, utterly ridiculous, and a horrible abuse of censorship by big tech giants to stifle free speech." Hartzler's account is back up now, but her tweet remains censored.
Hartzler, who is running for Senate, has also run campaign ads noting how male-to-female transgender athletes have a competitive advantage over their female peers. She has tweeted that allowing transgender athletes to compete endangers women's sports.
A friendly reminder of what is actually happening here.#SaveWomensSports https://t.co/aYkoUglpJI pic.twitter.com/NWgOyDEpZo
— Vicky Hartzler (@VickyHartzlerMO) February 18, 2022
Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hartzler's campaign has also criticized Twitter for allowing President Vladimir Putin to continue posting tweets.