Twitter has filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, alleging that Paxton used his office to retaliate against Twitter for blacklisting former President Donald Trump. Twitter describes the banning of the President of the United States as an “editorial decision” with which Paxton “disagrees.”
The Washington Times reports that the social media site Twitter has filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, alleging that Paxton used his office to retaliate against the website for blacklisting former President Donald Trump.
Paxton announced shortly after the ban that an investigation into Twitter and four other major tech firms would take place for what he referred to as “the seemingly coordinated de-platforming of the President.” The attorney general’s office demanded that the tech firm produce a number of records relating to their content moderation policies and other internal communications.
When launching his investigation into tech firms following the banning of President Trump, Paxton stated that the companies sudden removal of the former President “chills free speech” and “wholly silences” any wh disagree with them.
On Monday, Twitter filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Paxton was attempting to punish the website for taking former President Trump’s account offline. Twitter is asking a judge to declare their decision to ban Trump as protected under the First Amendment and halting Paxton’s investigation.
Twitter’s lawyers wrote in a suit filed in a Northern California court: “Paxton made clear that he will use the full weight of his office, including his expansive investigatory powers, to retaliate against Twitter for having made editorial decisions with which he disagrees.”
Paxton led 10 Republican attorneys general in suing Google in December for allegedly running an illegal digital-advertising monopoly alongside Facebook. Republican politicians in almost two dozen states have also introduced bills that would allow for civil lawsuits against platforms for censorship of certain posts.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com