Twitter says Republican Senator Doug Mastriano’s account has been suspended for ‘mistake’

President Donald Trump slammed Twitter after the social network suspended Republican Senator Doug Mastriano’s personal account on Friday, accusing the network of trying to “silence the truth” by banning lawmakers. The account has now been restored, after Twitter said it made a “mistake”.

A Twitter spokesperson said Newsweek in a statement: “This account was mistakenly suspended for alleged violations of our impersonation policy. It was a mistake. We immediately reversed the decision and the account was reinstated.”

Reacting to the suspension, Trump compared Twitter’s actions to those of a communist country and said the social network’s decision could not stand.

“Wow! Twitter is banning the well-respected Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano after doing a great job leading a 2020 voter fraud hearing,” Trump tweeted. “They and the Fake News, working together, want to SILENCE THE TRUTH. I can’t let this happen. This is what the communist countries do!

Just under an hour earlier, Pennsylvania State Senator Mastriano posted a screenshot of his phone showing that his personal account was suspended. A post on the lawmaker’s account said the network bans accounts that break its rules.

“This censorship is unacceptable in America. A nation that I have served for most of my adult life,” Mastriano tweeted from his official account. “The purpose of Twitter to suspend this personal account is to prevent me from posting to my Senate account – to silence our voices.”

Newsweek has contacted Senator Mastriano’s office for comment. This article will be updated with any response.

Mastriano opened a Republican-led public hearing on alleged “election matters” in Pennsylvania earlier this week. The meeting focused on allegations of electoral fraud in the state.

President Trump made an appearance by phone at the event, falsely claiming he won the state instead of President-elect Joe Biden.

“This election has been rigged and we cannot let this happen. We cannot let this happen to our country,” the commander-in-chief told the hearing. “And this election needs to be reversed because we’ve won Pennsylvania a lot and we’ve won all of these swing states by a lot.”

A federal judge on Saturday dismissed a campaign trial for Trump’s re-election in Pennsylvania, saying he could not “justify denying a single voter the right to vote” in his final decision.

Update 11/27/20, 11:55 a.m. ET: This article and title have been updated to reflect Twitter comments about the reason for Mastriano’s account suspension.