Twitter has permanently banned Roger Stone from Twitter — here's why

Longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone has reportedly been permanently banned from Twitter after he unleashed a profane rant at CNN on Friday. The rant followed a CNN report that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation had yielded its first indictment.

What happened?

After Stone's profanity-lace rant went viral on Saturday, many called on Twitter to suspend the political provocateur for allegedly violating Twitter's rules, which bar users from engaging in "abusive behavior."

According to Twitter, "abusive behavior" is threats, harassment, "hateful conduct," multiple account abuse, publishing other users' private information, impersonation and self-harm. While the company has spelled out the policy, it is very discretionary, leaving many to question why Twitter suspends some accounts, yet allows others to continue their "abusive behavior."

Twitter later buckled to pressure and suspended Stone.

What did Twitter say?

Twitter refused to comment on Stone's suspension specifically, as they typically do, but sources told The Hollywood Reporter that the suspension is a permanent ban.

A Twitter spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter:

We believe in freedom of expression and in speaking truth to power, but that means little as an underlying philosophy if voices are silenced because people are afraid to speak up," the spokesperson said. "In order to ensure that people feel safe expressing diverse opinions and beliefs, we do not tolerate behavior that crosses the line into abuse, including behavior that harasses, intimidates, or uses fear to silence another user’s voice.

What did Stone say?

According to BuzzFeed News, Stone said via text message that his suspension was only temporary.

He told BuzzFeed: "I have been informed that I have been suspended for 3 hours and 12 minutes. While I am uncertain why, sometimes the stark truth offends some people. I’ll be baaaaak."

According to BuzzFeed, Stone has two other "promotional" Twitter accounts, @STONEFLIK and @StoneColdTruth, and was actively tweeting from them Saturday night after his main account was suspended.