Longtime Trump associate Roger Stone Jr. said he will sue Twitter in response to the company banning him from the platform.
“I have retained one of the best telecommunications lawyers in the country and will be bringing a legal action against Twitter over the suspension of my account,” he told TheWrap. “The battle for free speech has just begun.”
Stone would not publicly name the attorney until he signed a retainer agreement, which he said he expected to do Monday.
“I have been inundated on Twitter with bloggers threatening to kill me, my wife my kids and even my dogs yet Twitter seems unconcerned about that,” he said “This is just part and parcel of the tech lefts effort to silence conservative voices.”
Stone, always a provocative presence on the platform, was finally kicked off for good Saturday after launching a series of profanity-laced tweets towards CNN anchor Don Lemon and other network personalities.
A Twitter spokesperson told TheWrap Saturday that they could not comment on individual accounts, but noted that their policy on “abusive behavior” includes “behavior that harasses,” which may result in suspension. While Stone himself said he was told by Twitter that his suspension would only last for a few hours, Twitter updated the public notice on his handle from “suspended to “permanently suspended” shortly after the news broke — without informing Stone.
Many online were struck by the seemingly arbitrary nature of the move. The influential journalist — and Stone critic — Yashar Ali dedicated a thread to the matter Saturday evening.
1. What is Twitter’s standard for suspending an account? Press attention? Milo and Roger Stone have had their accounts permanently suspended
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) October 29, 2017
2. But there are obviously millions of problematic tweets from as many accounts every year, why aren’t they permanently banned?
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) October 29, 2017
3. And I’m not just talking about people with hundreds of followers, but pretty popular people with thousands of followers.
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) October 29, 2017
4. And they’re not just conservatives, I’ve gotten crazy hate filled tweets from liberals who aren’t bots and who are popular.
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) October 29, 2017
5. I guess my point is, Twitter’s process seems totally arbitrary and based on press attention. I know that’s obvious to some….
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) October 29, 2017
Stone, a perennial cause célèbre and recent subject of the Netflix documentary “Get Me Roger Stone,” remains a close Trump confidante. Before his suspension, he was most recently using Twitter to publicly pressure Trump to release the remaining classified JFK documents — a request the president mostly acceded to last week.
The Twitter suspension leaves Stone down — but not totally out — on the platform. Another account connected to him, @StoneColdTruth seemed to take the matter in stride.
Strike me down, and I will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.#StopCensorship #TwitterVSRogerStone #RogerStone pic.twitter.com/QTyIXWfCTG
— Stone Cold Truth (@StoneColdTruth) October 29, 2017