Pro-Trump Radio Host Bill Mitchell Banned by Twitter

August 18th, 2020 11:29 AM

Bill Mitchell, host of a popular online radio show “YourVoice America,” equated Twitter with “the Devil” and said his ban from the site was a “pure political hit job.”

Mitchell noted that news of his permanent Twitter ban quickly became a trending topic on Twitter. His popular account was shared or re-tweeted by President Donald Trump’s account at least 15 times since he took office, according to The Washington Times

Mitchell was handed a week-long suspension for tweeting about his views on face coverings several weeks prior, according to his Parler posts. He explained that he believes wearing a mask is actually more dangerous and helps spread the COVID-19 virus. Mitchell stated that Twitter found this to be a violation of its policy against posting misinformation about COVID-19. Mitchell’s account was temporarily locked in March for a violation of the same policy, according to a statement provided at the time to the Media Research Center by Twitter.

On Parler, Mitchell admitted that during this week-long suspension, he “tweeted a bit from a very small secondary account,” one that had only 9,000 followers. In contrast, his main account had around 590,000 followers shortly before it was banned. He said he was unaware that using another account violated Twitter’s rules against evading a ban. In a statement to the Media Research Center, a Twitter spokesperson stated that Mitchell’s account was “permanently suspended for violating the Twitter Rules by using one account to evade the suspension of another account.”

“A report released in February 2016 by MIT’s Media Lab listed Mr. Mitchell as the 26th-most influential Twitter account in terms of shaping that year’s presidential race,” according to The Times. However, Mitchell stated on Parler that his main account had recently been shadowbanned by Twitter. He estimated that only around 12,000 of his followers were actually seeing his tweets organically. 

When reporting on Mitchell’s suspension, liberal media outlets such as The Daily Beast have claimed that he is a “prominent supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory.” Mitchell addressed such claims on his Parler account. He explained that he has interviewed a few prominent QAnon (Q) followers on his radio program, and that he has “nothing against Qanon and those from the movement I have met seem to be true patriots and love Trump.” However, he clarified that he’s “never personally followed Q,” and noted that “it’s just too esoteric for my tastes.”

Ultimately, Mitchell says he is happy to be out of Twitter’s “sandbox.” He said he is certain that Parler and cloutHub will soon cause Twitter to collapse, and said he “won’t miss asshat [Twitter CEO] Jack [Dorsey] and his stupid algorithms.”

Conservatives are under attack. Contact Twitter's leadership by tweeting at the official @Twitter account or Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey @Jack and demand that the platform mirror the First Amendment: Tech giants should afford their users nothing less than the free speech and free exercise of religion embodied in the First Amendment as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.