Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Politics

Is Marjorie Taylor Greene ‘Dangerous’?

There are few lawmakers as loyal to Donald Trump as Marjorie Taylor Greene. But is MTG ‘dangerous’ in her role on the House Committee on Homeland Security?

Marjorie Taylor Greene. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Marjorie Taylor Greene. Image: U.S. government,

There are few lawmakers as loyal to Donald Trump as Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Georgia Congresswoman can spin a yarn to protect the former president and often sees nothing wrong with Trump’s actions, especially his legal entanglements and his actions or inactions leading up to and during the January 6 insurrection. But now one online misinformation and disinformation expert is worried that Greene’s presence on the House Committee on Homeland Security is particularly dangerous.

What Is Marjorie Taylor Greene Doing Now?

Greene now has access to important national security data from her perch and her zeal to protect the president leads her to ignore critical misinformation and disinformation that is plaguing the country, one congressional witness said in a recent op-ed for MSNBC.

Expert Testified Before Congressional Panel

Cynthia Miller-Idriss was offered testimony at a recent Homeland Security Committee hearing on the role of the government in reducing the level of misinformation and disinformation online. Miller-Idriss runs a research laboratory at American University that looks at extremist views that lead to political polarization.

The hearing, titled “Censorship Laundering: How the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Enables the Silencing of Dissent,” was held by the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Accountability.

Greene Sees No Problem from Trump Faithful

In it, Greene had some dangerous things to say, according to Miller-Idriss. Greene wanted to know if Miller-Idriss considered Trump supporters to be extremists. Miller-Idriss replied that she investigates only extremists who are considering or are planning to commit violent acts. The expert replied that she looks at extremists regardless of who people support politically. Greene replied that she hasn’t “seen any” referring to acts of violence from Trump supporters.

What About January 6?

Miller-Idriss was concerned, and some Congressional members present on the panel were probably shocked too. After all, hundreds of rioters on January 6 have been prosecuted, found guilty, and sentenced to prison terms for violent actions that day and they were all Trump supporters in some form.

The misinformation and disinformation expert wrote in her column that she routinely hears from Americans who are concerned and scared about how people are becoming radicalized online.

“In Michigan, a grandfather and military veteran wrote to ask what he could do about his grandson, who had joined an armed militia. In Texas, faith leaders asked for ways to help congregations who were torn apart by conspiracy theories,” she wrote in her op-ed. “In Vermont, a local entrepreneur asked if the school system could do more to prevent his future employees, most of whom he hired straight from the local high school, to stop espousing so much dangerous propaganda, which had become a problem for his business.”

The tricky part of online investigations into misinformation and disinformation is the First Amendment right to free speech. There is no stipulation about rightness and wrongness in Constitutionally protected speech and this includes remarks or writings that are considered conspiracy theories by some.

Miller-Idriss thus encourages consumers of online content to conduct research and due diligence on various questionable articles and videos on the Internet. Her research lab often publishes guidance on untrue or conspiratorial material that could lead to violence, especially when it is considered hate speech against people’s religion, race, and sexual preference.

Denying the Problem Is Dangerous

The online extremism specialist is worried about lawmakers like Greene who deny that the problem exists in the face of a significant level of evidence that online hate speech is at a historic high, according to nonprofits like the Anti-Defamation League. Miller-Idriss wrote that “much of that violence is driven by online exposure to disinformation, propaganda, and conspiracy theories.”

Her research lab publishes “intervention guides” to make sure students, for example, are not radicalized online and do not aspire to commit acts of violence.

She explained that “parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, mental health professionals” can be informed in a manner that should reduce the incidence of extremist violence that comes from online behavior. 

Fortunately for my family, my ninth grader shares questionable content he sees online with my wife and me. That allows us to steer him in the right direction. The problem is that some adults do not adequately protect their children in this manner and people like Miller-Idriss are concerned that certain politicians like Greene are sending the wrong messages to voters. This could lead to a greater chance that people do not recognize misinformation statements that can lead to violent behavior. It takes several people to combat some extremist beliefs that are hatched from untrue online content. Greene is not helping in this effort, according to her critics.

MORE: Could Donald Trump Be Disqualified from Becoming President Again?

MORE: Could Donald Trump Quit the GOP?

Author Expertise and Experience

Serving as 19FortyFive’s Defense and National Security Editor, Dr. Brent M. Eastwood is the author of Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare. He is an Emerging Threats expert and former U.S. Army Infantry officer. You can follow him on Twitter @BMEastwood. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and Foreign Policy/ International Relations.

Written By

Now serving as 1945s New Defense and National Security Editor, Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare. He is an Emerging Threats expert and former U.S. Army Infantry officer.

Advertisement