Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images; AP Photo/Marta Lavandier
- DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw has been feuding with AP over a story published this week.
- AP said she tweeted their reporter's story and wrote "drag them" and threatened to put him "on blast."
- Twitter locked her out for 12 hours over "abusive behavior" but she has denied the tweets were abusive.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Twitter locked the account of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' press secretary on Friday over tweets the company deemed "abusive."
Christina Pushaw told Insider her account was locked for 12 hours, but that Twitter did not give her a reason behind the decision. Twitter confirmed to Insider her account was locked, saying it "violated the Twitter rules on abusive behavior."
The company did not answer questions about which tweets were deemed abusive, but Pushaw had been sparring with The Associated Press this week over a story published Wednesday in which Brendan Farrington reported that one of DeSantis' top donors invested in Regeneron, the maker of a drug used to treat COVID-19 that the governor has heavily promoted.
Following publication, Pushaw repeatedly blasted the story and the reporter on Twitter.
According to AP, she tweeted the article and wrote "drag them" in a post that was later deleted. In another tweet, she told Farrington that if AP did not change the story she would "put you on blast." AP said she also retweeted a post that said "Light. Them. Up." in reference to the outlet.
Her tweets prompted AP to write a letter to DeSantis' office asking for her behavior to stop.
"This type of behavior can cause great harm," the letter said, adding that journalists are regularly the targets of abuse, stalking, and threats of violence.
"While we can disagree about stories, it is unacceptable and dangerous for a public official to encourage the systemic bullying of journalists," it continued. "It is the type of behavior that the United States government routinely criticizes in other nations."
Twitter banned Pushaw's account shortly after the letter was sent.
Pushaw pushed back against AP in an email to Insider, saying the backlash the reporter was receiving was the "direct result of his and AP's decision to cherry-pick facts to prop up a false narrative."
She said the AP headline was "misleading" and "directly endangered Floridians by inappropriately politicizing Regeneron treatment, just for a cheap attack on Governor DeSantis."
Other outlets have examined claims that a top DeSantis donor, the hedge fund Citadel, invested in Regeneron. Tampa Bay Times reporter Kirby Wilson tweeted Tuesday, before AP's article was published, that the federal government had already bought every dose of Regeneron's treatment before DeSantis began pushing the drug and before Florida's latest COVID-19 surge.
Wilson also said that Citadel was not in the top 100 of Regeneron's shareholders and that Regeneron makes up a small portion of Citadel's holdings.
Pushaw also criticized Twitter for the decision to lock her account, saying that none of her tweets were abusive.
"It's appalling for a social media platform to ban the press secretary of a democratically elected official while allowing the Taliban to live-tweet their conquest of Afghanistan," she said.
Twitter did not respond to Insider's question about the Taliban's use of Twitter.
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