Mike Lindell Says Criticism of Donald Trump Allowed on 'Free Speech' Site Frank

Mike Lindell has said users of his new social media platform will be allowed to criticize former President Donald Trump. The MyPillow CEO, a staunch Trump supporter who has been banned from Twitter for spreading election misinformation, is launching a "free speech" site called Frank, set to open to the public on April 19. In an interview with the conservative host Graham Ledger on Monday, Lindell said denouncing the policies of the twice-impeached president would not be forbidden on the site. Ledger asked: "Your platform is going to allow Graham Ledger to come on and say, 'I don't like the policies of Barack Obama or Joe Biden.' At the same time, it's going to allow someone else to come on and say, 'I don't like the policies of Donald Trump.' You are not going to snuff that voice out either, are you?" Lindell replied: "Absolutely not. Everyone is going to be able to talk freely … When you come over now you are going to be able to speak out and have opinions." Little is known about the platform, which opens for VIP early access at midnight on Thursday. Lindell has claimed it is a mix of YouTube and Twitter, but appeared to struggle when asked by Ledger to describe what it would actually look like. He told the host: "You have your videos or you have people—at that time they won't be able to stream live, we're preventing some of this stuff in the beginning—but everyone can be able to comment and comment on the videos and talk freely. "So, basically, what it does, it gets the podcasters, people out there that want to put out the word, and then everybody commenting on it, no matter who you are."

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It remains unclear how much money it cost to build the platform, how many people are involved in the project and what back-end infrastructure is in place. Lindell claimed the site would be resistant to takedowns by technology giants such as Google or Amazon because he owns the servers it is running on, and made lofty predictions about how many people would sign up. In the interview with Ledger, it appeared the businessman's forecasts were largely based on how many people had watched a documentary he made. He said he would like to see 10 million people the first day and eventually 1 billion users. Despite the platform being pitched as a haven for free speech, Lindell has previously announced that there will be restrictions on swearing, pornography and taking "God's name in vain." The businessman's plans were criticized this week by the CEO of another social media site promoted as a "free speech" alternative. Andrew Torba, the boss of Gab, claimed Lindell's vision was a "rip off." "I don't think Mike understands what he is getting into with these projects, but he will soon enough," Torba wrote in a post on Gab that has since been edited.