Twitter has come under fire for locking the account of conservative commentator Dave Rubin over a post where he said COVID-19 vaccines aren't working as promised, officials want a federal mandate and booster shots are in the works.
Rubin, whose new book is released today, tweeted Thursday evening that society should 'take a pause' amid the vaccine rollout.
'They want a federal vaccine mandate for vaccines which are clearly not working as promised just weeks ago,' he wrote.
'People are getting and transmitting Covid despite vax. Plus now they're prepping us for booster shots. A sane society would take a pause. We do not live in a sane society.'
Twitter temporarily locked Rubin's account, determining that the post violated its policy on 'spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19.'
He was informed by the social media giant that his account access would be fully restored in 12 hours if he removed the tweet. He did, but said it was 'against his better judgment.'
The incident comes just weeks after Donald Trump launched a class action lawsuit against CEO Jack Dorsey, as well as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai claiming he is the victim of censorship by the tech giants.
Twitter has come under fire for locking the account of conservative commentator Dave Rubin (above) over a post where he said COVID-19 vaccines aren't working as promised, officials want a federal mandate and booster shots are in the works
Rubin, whose new book 'Don't Burn (Fill in the blank) is released today, tweeted Thursday evening that society should 'take a pause' amid the vaccine rollout
Rubin and other conservative commentators hit out at Twitter over Thursday's action, slamming the power of 'Big Tech' and questioning what aspects of his original post were 'misleading' or 'potentially harmful'.
The creator and host of political talk show The Rubin Report told Fox News his comments were all factual and accused Twitter of 'lying' with its claims he violated policy.
'Every single thing that I said in that tweet was true and this is a complete continuation of silencing any sort of dissent, anyone that questions the narrative is in a lot of trouble when it comes to Big Tech and we better fight it because we're running out of time,' he said.
On Thursday, Joe Biden announced a series of new measures to try to boost vaccination rates, as infections continue to rise driven by the spread of the more contagious Delta variant.
The president issued a new policy for federal government workers, requiring all staffers and on-site contractors to either get vaccinated or face strict protocols.
These include weekly or twice weekly testing, wearing a face mask, social distancing from other employees and visitors and being subject to restrictions on official travel.
Biden also would not rule out a national mandate, saying: 'It's still a question of whether the federal government can mandate the whole country. I don't know that yet.'
Twitter temporarily locked Rubin's account, determining that the post violated its policy on 'spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19.'
The Biden administration has termed the new spread of the virus a 'pandemic of the unvaccinated' as the vast majority of cases, deaths and hospitalizations are among people who have refused the shot.
Now, 57 percent of Americans have had at least one dose while 49 percent are fully vaccinated, CDC data shows.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky warned Thursday that new research shows vaccinated people can spread the Delta variant just as much as unvaccinated people.
Research shows, she said, that people infected with so-called breakthrough infections - where they become infected despite being vaccinated - of the new strain carry high amounts of the virus in the nose and throat making them just as contagious.
Conservative activist and Parkland shooting survivor Kyle Kashuv also slammed the locking out of Rubin as 'insanity' and posted a screenshot of the original tweet on Twitter
Health officials are expected to release the findings Friday as they explain the science behind their U-turn on face masks, recommending that vaccinated people wear face masks once more indoors in parts of the country with substantial COVID-19 transmission.
An internal federal health document obtained by The Washington Post reported that the Delta variant was as infectious as chickenpox or Ebola - with each infected person passing the virus to eight or nine others, on average.
The original lineage was about as transmissible as the common cold, with each infected person passing it to about two others, on average.
Meanwhile, Pfizer said Wednesday it was looking into the possibility of a third booster shot to its two-dose vaccine, noting that the vaccine's power can reduce over time.
Rubin pointed to both Pfizer's exploration of booster shots and the Post's report, telling Fox: 'I basically paraphrased what the president said today.'
On Thursday, Joe Biden issued a new policy for federal workers to either get vaccinated or tested regularly and wouldn't rule out a national mandate
The CDC said vaccinated people can spread Delta as much as unvaccinated and new research also showed the Delta variant was as infectious as chickenpox or Ebola - with each infected person passing the virus to eight or nine others, on average
The political commentator repeated this assertion in a video posted on his new tech platform Locals.com.
'I have been locked out of Twitter for saying something completely 100 percent true,' he says in the video.
Conservative activist and Parkland shooting survivor Kyle Kashuv also slammed the locking out of Rubin as 'insanity' and posted a screenshot of the original tweet on Twitter.
'Insanity. Twitter just locked out @RubinReport. Everything he said was 100% ACCURATE,' he wrote.
'Another instance of Democrats and Big Tech working hand in hand to censor political dissidents...'
Rubin said he bowed to Twitter's demands to delete the tweet rather than appeal against the social media giant's decision so that he could get full access back in time for Friday's book launch.
However, he told Fox his decision went 'against my better judgment.'
'I would have preferred to stand up and fight them,' he said.
Twitter did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment and clarification on which part of Rubin's tweet was 'misleading' or 'potentially harmful information.'
The furor marks just the latest recent instance where Republicans and Big Tech have gone to war.
On July 7, Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against Twitter, Google and Facebook and their CEOs, claiming to be the victim of censorship.
The former president said he had brought the suit on behalf of victims of 'cancel culture' and demanded the end of 'shadow banning' and 'blacklisting.'
'In addition, we are asking the court to impose punitive damages on these social media giants,' he said. 'We're going to hold big tech very accountable.'
Trump will serve as the lead plaintiff in the suit, claiming he has been wrongfully censored, he added.
His lawyers said they will argue that Congress has frequently pressured Big Tech to take action on conservatives, making them 'agents of government' and therefore subject to the First Amendment.
The legal moves are backed by the America First Policy Institute, a non-profit that includes several former senior administration officials.
Donald Trump announced class action lawsuits against Twitter, Facebook Google and their chief executives July 7 (above)
The two tweets that got Trump banned by Twitter. The social media platform said the comments fell foul of its Glorification of Violence Policy
Trump was suspended from his social media accounts back in January after a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6 in a violent riot that left five dead.
Rather than condemn the violence, Trump wrote on January 8 that his supporters were 'great American patriots' who 'will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form.'
Twitter banned him indefinitely two days later, citing his 'glorification of violence.'
'After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,' the company said at the time.
Trump tried to get around the ban in the hours that followed by addressing his supporters through other people's accounts. This led to several others also being suspended.
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