Twitter limits state GOP chair Ward’s account over COVID-19 misinformation

Twitter has “temporarily limited” the account features of Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward after determining she violated its policy on spreading misleading and “potentially harmful” information about the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision by Twitter came after she shared the viral video of a group of physicians making false and misleading comments about the pandemic. Twitter’s decision to limit Ward’s account came after the social media giant also punished Donald Trump Jr. for posting the same video.

Ward, a physician, has downplayed the severity of the virus’s spread in Arizona, even as caseloads skyrocketed and the state spiraled into a national hot spot.

The Arizona Republican Party drew attention to Twitter’s decision with a tweet Tuesday that accused the platform of engaging in “Election interference!”

“#BIGTECH CENSORSHIP: @Twitter has suspended the account of @AZGOP Chairwoman @kelliwardaz — one week before Arizona’s August 4th Primary — for tweeting a #COVID19 video featuring doctors discussing the benefits of using #Hydroxycholoroquine as prophylaxis. Election interference!”

In a written statement, Greg Safsten, the state party’s executive director, said social media companies such as Twitter value “manufactured consensus” above the right to free speech.

“... With one week to go until Arizona’s primary election, suspending the chairwoman’s account — thereby limiting our ability to reach her more than 80,000 Twitter followers — hinders

our ability to communicate with voters, encourage Arizonans to get out vote, and silences an important conservative voice in our state.”

Ward, a conservative former state senator from Lake Havasu City, is a celebrity of sorts among the more right-ofcenter faction of the state party.

She has drawn negative headlines around the nation for her previous associations with controversial figures on the right, such as Paul Nehlen, a self-described “Pro-White” Wisconsin congressional candidate who was disavowed by the GOP, and conspiracytheorist Alex Jones of InfoWars.com.

During her 2018 run for the U.S. Senate, she drew negative headlines around the nation after she suggested that a statement by Sen. John McCain’s family about ending treatment for his brain cancer was timed to interfere with her Senate campaign’s momentum. He died hours after her comment.