Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Friday that he "just got suspended by Twitter" for a post concerning illegal immigrants and COVID-19.
"I'm part of the censored group because I did a tweet saying that having illegal immigrants come in without any controls is a public health issue in the time of COVID," Gingrich told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo on "Mornings With Maria." "So I just want to report I'm part of the same effort by Twitter to censor the country on its own terms."
Gingrich's Twitter account early Friday appeared to remain active, but the most recent tweet that shows as coming from the former speaker was made on Wednesday. The tweet about immigrants and COVID-19 is not on the site.
"We've actually submitted a request for Twitter to explain the principles by which they chose to suspend me but of course they have power right now," said Gingrich. "What they're doing, what all these big companies are doing, is they're setting the stage for a real populace backlash that will either make them liable to lawsuits or have real controls over them or break them up. I mean, Twitter's behaving as though it's a dictatorship and it's not. "
Twitter has not responded to a request for comment about Gingrich's statements.
The site has come under fire in recent months after shuttering several conservative voices, including former President Donald Trump, whose account was closed permanently soon after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
The social media giant said it closed his account over the "risk of further incitement of violence" when read in the context of the attacks and because of plans circulating online for more armed protests during President Joe Biden's inauguration.