Twitter bans 2 right-wing accounts as Elon Musk promotes free speech

SAN FRANCISCO: Amid Elon Musk's free speech call, Twitter has re-suspended the accounts of two prominent conservative figures -- MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Dr Vladimir "Zev" Zelenko.

The micro-blogging platform permanently suspended their accounts shortly after the duo rejoined it with creating new Twitter handles, for violating platform rules against evading bans, reports The Verge.

Lindell was banned last year while Zelenko was banned in 2020.

Lindell was originally suspended for violating Twitter's rules against election misinformation.

Zelenko, who promoted an unproven Covid-19 treatment, was banned for violating rules on platform manipulation and spam.

Twitter's decision came as Musk, who has made a successful $44 billion bid to acquire the platform, promoted free speech and less content moderation.

The world's richest man first supported former US president Donald Trump's social network app 'Truth Social' by sharing its App Store ranking on his micro-blogging handle.

He later openly criticised Twitter's legal head Vijaya Gadde for suspending the account of The New York Post that wrote an exclusive article about Hunter Biden's laptop.

Musk had long been advocating free speech on the platform, creating apprehensions for many as they fear the site will be left without regulations.

The billionaire earlier said that Twitter must remain politically neutral if it wants to keep enjoying public trust.