Twitter re-suspends two right-wing accounts trying to evade their bans

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The accounts of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Dr. Zelenko have been banned from the platform. The man who was banned in 2021 was re-banned a few hours later. Zelenko opened an account this weekend.

It was confirmed to The Verge this morning that it had been permanently suspended. The accounts were suspended for violating platform rules.

As billionaire Musk prepares to take control of the company, he plans to implement looser content restrictions. Musk publicly criticized the head of moderation for supporting the left-wing bias on the service. Conservative interest in the platform has been rejuvenated by his impending purchase of the platform, and the possibility that banned figures could return to the platform, including former president Donald Trump. Users like Zelenko have tried to rejoin, after conservative accounts gained followers in the past week. The deal isn't expected to close for several months, and so far, it doesn't seem to be changing.

The suspension was for violating the rules against election misinformation. The CEO has been sued for defamation over false claims about voting machine companies. He told Insider that the decision to ban him wasshame, and that he should be first in line for prison. Zelenko was banned for violating rules on platform manipulation.

Musk has laid out a vague vision for the future of the service, but he dislikes permanent bans. It's possible that accounts like Zelenko's and Lindell's could eventually return to the social networking site, but not for a long time.