MyPillow CEO Banned From Twitter For Claiming Trump Won 2020 Election

MyPillow CEO Banned From Twitter For Claiming Trump Won 2020 Election

Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and an unofficial advisor to former president Donald Trump, was permanently booted from Twitter late Monday. Why? Lindell was reportedly spreading too many lies about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, something that can still get you banned from Twitter.

“The account you referenced has been permanently suspended due to repeated violations of our Civic Integrity Policy,” Twitter confirmed in an email to Gizmodo early Tuesday.

It’s not clear what Lindell tweeted that finally got him banned and Twitter did not comment on the content of the CEO’s tweets beyond its one-sentence statement.

Twitter instituted new rules in Sept. 2020 that made it against the social media company’s terms of service to repeatedly spread misinformation about the 2020 presidential election. The company expanded the rules shortly after the Jan. 6 coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former president Donald Trump. And while that election is now firmly in the rearview mirror, and Joe Biden is the president, Twitter’s very specific ban on election misinformation in that race is still in force.

Lindell made headlines after the Jan. 6 coup attempt when he was spotted at the White House with a bizarre sheet of paper that seemed to be encouraging Trump to invoke martial law. But he’s again the headlines this week after the Daily Mail said he was dating actress Jane Krakowski, best known for her role in the TV show 30 Rock. Lindell denies that he ever dated Krakowski and the actress says she’s never even met Lindell.

Strangely, Lindell has decided to file a lawsuit against the Daily Mail over the claim, despite the fact that neither person is married and there’s not much of a scandal here. Lindell reportedly claims he suffered “significant humiliation and emotional distress” when the Daily Mail published the dating claim.

Hypothetically, it’d be interesting to see how long Twitter’s ban on misinformation about the 2020 election will be enforced. If, say, you spread bullshit about the 2020 election four years from now in 2024, will Twitter still take action? How about in 2028? Could you conceivably be banned during the 2032 presidential election season for claiming the 2020 election was stolen from Trump?

For whatever it’s worth, MyPillow’s official count is still active on Twitter. Will Lindell try to use that account like Donald Trump did in the wake of his own Twitter ban? Time will tell. But we imagine Twitter’s moderators are ready to strike if he should choose to go that route.


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