Here's What Happened When The MyPillow CEO Tried To Rejoin Twitter
Twitter cleaned house following the deadly riots in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. More than 70,000 accounts were suspended or banned from the social media platform (via the Associated Press). That number included many believers in Q-Anon conspiracy theories and even former President Donald Trump.
Most of the temporarily or permanently suspended accounts reportedly shared misinformation, including MyPillow CEO and staunch Trump supporter, Mike Lindell. Twitter was Lindell's social media platform of choice for amplifying false claims that the 2020 election was "the biggest election fraud in history," per Vox. His actions went directly against Twitter's civic integrity policy. Bad news for Lindell: He was permanently suspended from the app.
Elon Musk's move to purchase Twitter led to palpable fear and excitement about what this could mean for the app's terms of service. Musk's feelings about Trump's ban in particular have some employees and users worried that previously suspended accounts could be reactivated. A source recently told The Wall Street Journal that Musk didn't agree with the former president's ban.
According to Trump, he won't be rejoining Twitter either way. During an interview with Fox News, he said he'd be sticking with TRUTH Social, his own social media platform. Despite reports the platform isn't as great as Trump claims (via BBC), he says "millions" flocked to it.
Lindell, however, already tried — and failed — to get back on Twitter.
How Twitter is reacting to Elon Musk's takeover
Discussions on Twitter have centered around who is staying — or coming back — and who is leaving the platform in light of Musk's buyout. Celebrities such as Jameela Jamil claimed they were leaving, Newsweek reports. Jamil tweeted that Musk's takeover would "help this hell platform reach its final form of totally lawless hate, bigotry, and misogyny." Meanwhile, rapper Azaelia Banks, who received a permanent Twitter ban in 2020 for transphobic comments, posted on Instagram that she was back on Twitter.
More than just celebrities are apparently making the choice to leave or return. Newsweek reports that conservative heroes like Senator Ted Cruz and Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson's follower counts ballooned while Vice President Kamala Harris's dwindled after the news broke. The publication noted that theories about why this is happening include "a pro-Democrat Twitter bot purge, an alteration in the platform's algorithm, or a deliberate increase in Republican bot followers purposefully designed to encourage more liberal users to leave," though there really might be a change-up to Twitter's demographic.
If returning users are hoping to find Mike Lindell, the major Donald Trump supporter and CEO of MyPillow, they won't be able.
Mike Lindell was already re-banned from Twitter
It appears supporters of former President Donald Trump are eager for Trump and those in his circle who were banned from Twitter to reappear. Newsweek reports that on April 26, 2022, an account with the handle @realMikeLindel tweeted that he was "back." The tweet proceeded to go viral as fans engaged with it.
But this wasn't the real Mike Lindell. On May 1, he posted on another new account to let fans know he was returning to Twitter but only from his original, verified account that had been suspended. "All those other ones are fake accounts," Lindell said, "and they've been using my name out there, so we started this account." This tweet, Business Insider reports, included a video from Lindell.
Within three hours Lindell's new account was already suspended. Twitter has rules on ban evasion, which includes one that says you "can't circumvent a Twitter suspension, enforcement action, or anti-spam challenge. This includes any behavior intended to evade any Twitter remediation, such as creating a new account or repurposing an already-existing account." A Twitter spokesperson told Business Insider this is the rule Lindell broke by creating a new account, which resulted in another permanent ban from the platform.
The fate of many suspended Twitter accounts still hang in the balance, but we know that Lindell won't be returning any time soon.