Twitter permanently suspends account of Trump ally

Twitter has permanently suspended the account of My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, a close friend and ally of former President Donald Trump.

Lindell's account, which had nearly half a million followers, was suspended due to repeated violations of the company's civil integrity policy, a Twitter spokesperson told media.

The firm argued that Lindell was using his account to spread disinformation about the 2020 US presidential election, including false claims of voter fraud and election rigging.

Twitter's civic integrity policy announced earlier this month forbids users to use services "for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes."

Such civic processes include elections, censuses, and ballot initiatives, according to Twitter.

Trump's Twitter account was also suspended for a 12-hour period in the aftermath of the deadly US Capitol riots on Jan. 6, before a permanent ban took place two days later.

Lindell, the head of a pillow manufacturing company based in Minnesota, was a close ally of Trump and visited the White House during his final week in office.

On Jan. 16, four days before President Joe Biden's inauguration, Lindell was photographed coming to visit Trump with a paper bearing the words "martial law if necessary," fueling speculation he was urging Trump to overturn the election results by force.