Twitter suspends Trump ally Roger Stone after rant

Roger Stone, a longtime associate of President Donald Trump , has been suspended by Twitter after lashing out at CNN anchor Don Lemon on Friday.

The suspension came after Stone went on a Twitter rant, calling Lemon a "dumb piece of shit" after CNN reported an indictment had been filed in an investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 election.

Twitter declined to comment specifically on Stone's account, instead highlighting the company's policy on abusive behavior.

"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," a Twitter representative said in a statement. "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."

Stone, who helped Trump win the election, told Politico on Sunday he had decided to bring legal action against Twitter, although it was unclear what that action would be.

"This is a strange way to do business and part and parcel of the systematic effort by the tech left to censor and silence conservative voices," Stone wrote in an email.

Twitter accounts are often suspended when their owners violate the social media platform's policies. In January, pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli was given a Twitter time-out for harassing a freelance journalist. Shkreli, a Trump supporter, began trolling the journalist after she wrote an opinion piece for Teen Vogue that was critical of Trump.

Batteries Not Included:The CNET team shares experiences that remind us why tech stuff is cool.

CNET Magazine: Check out a sampling of the stories you'll find in CNET's newsstand edition.