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No, Twitter didn’t suspend Virginia Tech swimmer Reka Gyorgy
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- A Twitter account posing as Reka Gyorgy was suspended, not the Virginia Tech swimmer herself. Gyorgy told PolitiFact she doesn’t have an account.
On March 20, a Twitter account posing as Virginia Tech swimmer Reka Gyorgy tweeted criticism of Lia Thomas, the first transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming tournament.
"My finals spot was stolen by Lia Thomas, who is a biological male," the account @RekaGyorgy_ said. "Until we all refuse to compete nothing will change. Thanks for all the support retweets and follows I won’t stop fighting."
PolitiFact previously debunked claims that the real Gyorgy tweeted this. But now, some people are claiming that Twitter suspended Gyorgy from using its platform.
"The girl who lost her spot in the NCAA swimming championship just got suspended from Twitter for her post about Lia Thomas," reads a Facebook post with an image of the fake Twitter account’s handle and the words "Account suspended."
This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The account that was suspended wasn’t Gyorgy’s — it was the imposter account pretending to be her. In fact, Gyorgy told PolitiFact that she doesn’t have a Twitter account.
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Sergio Lopez Miro, the director and head coach of Virginia Tech’s swimming and diving team, also told PolitiFact the account was "fake" and didn’t belong to Gyorgy.
The account also went by another name before changing to @RekaGyorgy_, Reuters and the Associated Press reported: @amanda191923.
Gyorgy has complained about NCAA rules that allowed Thomas to compete against her and other swimmers "who are biologically female." In a March 20 letter to the NCAA, Gyorgy said:
"Every event that transgender athletes competed in was one spot taken away from biological females throughout the meet."
But the Twitter account that apparently expanded on this letter did not belong to Gyorgy, and it was not Gyorgy who was suspended from the platform.
We rate this post False.
Our Sources
Facebook post, March 22, 2022
@RekaGyorgy Twitter account, archived March 20, 2022
PolitiFact, No, Virginia Tech swimmer did not tweet that her ‘finals spot was stolen’ by transgender athlete, March 24, 2022
LinkedIn correspondence with Reka Gyorgy, Virginia Tech University student athlete, March 23, 2022
Email correspondence with Sergio Lopez Miro, director and head coach of Virginia Tech Swimming & Diving, March 23, 2022
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No, Twitter didn’t suspend Virginia Tech swimmer Reka Gyorgy
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