My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell Permanently Suspended From Twitter

Twitter has suspended Mike Lindell, the CEO of My Pillow, from the social media platform. He had been using his Twitter account to spread disinformation about the 2020 election, including false claims of voter fraud and election rigging.

Lindell's account was "permanently suspended due to repeated violations of our Civil Integrity Policy," a Twitter spokesperson told NPR. It was not immediately clear which posts from Lindell led to his removal from the social media platform.

Lindell is a close ally of former President Donald Trump and visited the White House during the final week of Trump's administration.

Twitter announced a new civic integrity policy this month that states that users may not use its service "for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in the elections or other civic processes."

Posting content that could repress participation or deceive people on the civic process would also be considered a violation, the company said.

Facebook, Twitter and other tech giants suspended Trump's verified accounts earlier this month, in the days after a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol.

A mob of pro-Trump extremists descended on the seat of the federal government on Jan. 6, at Trump's urging, as lawmakers gathered to certify Biden's electoral victory. The insurrection left five people dead, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer.

Following the mayhem in Washington, Twitter announced it had suspended more than 70,000 accounts that "engaged in sharing harmful QAnon-associated content ... dedicated to the propagation of this conspiracy theory across this service."

Facebook announced similar measures that it was removing content containing the phrase "stop the steal" from its Facebook and Instagram platforms.

Lindell's removal from Twitter comes as he faces possible legal action from Dominion Voting Systems for spreading misinformation about fraud linked to its voting machines, The New York Times reported earlier this month.

Dominion has filed lawsuits against Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, lawyers who worked with Trump on his postelection flurry of legal actions, for similar fraud claims.

Dominion is seeking $1.3 billion in damages from both Giuliani and Powell. [Copyright 2021 NPR]