Sen. Mike Lee's (R-UT) sock-puppet Twitter account, "BasedMikeLee," was suspended on Wednesday by Twitter after he used the account to lash out against Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for not releasing U.S. Navy Lt. Ridge Alkonis from prison.
Lee immediately took to Twitter to complain about it:
"My personal Twitter account – @BasedMikeLee – has been suspended. Twitter did not alert me ahead of time, nor have they yet offered an explanation for the suspension."
According to Politico's Playbook, Lee set a deadline of Feb. 28 for Alkonis to be released.
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"You've made your choice," Lee tweeted. "I hope you're ready for some conversations on the Senate floor that you're not likely to enjoy. This issue isn't going away, and neither am I."
Lee had championed Twitter CEO Elon Musk taking over the platform because he felt he would have more freedom to say what he wanted.
“Okay, so, disclaimer upfront," Lee said last year when speaking to The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. "I sometimes suffer from unfettered exuberance, especially where Elon Musk is involved… I think it’s going to be a complete game changer if, when he finally completes this transaction — and I sincerely hope that he does... I think you will see an actual fair, even playing field for people to communicate their ideas without people being shadow banned."
The Twitter terms of service specifies that no user may "threaten, incite, glorify, or express desire for violence or harm." It also says, "You may not share abusive content, engage in the targeted harassment of someone, or incite other people to do so." It's not clear which of these rules Twitter felt Lee violated.
Lee tweeted that his team is "seeking answers."