Twitter sues Ken Paxton, Texas’ attorney general

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Twitter on Monday filed a lawsuit against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in a federal court in California, asking a judge to prevent the state’s attorney general from investigating the company.

The social media giant’s court reports include a request for a temporary restraining order that would prevent Paxton and his office from enforcing a claim seeking documents that disclose, among other things, the company’s internal decision-making processes for banning users.

Paxton, an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump, sent a civil investigation question to the company after banning Trump from his platform after the deadly siege of the US Capitol in January.

Twitter writes that it seeks to prevent Paxton “not unlawfully abusing his authority as the highest law enforcement officer of the state of Texas to intimidate, harass and target Twitter in retaliation for Twitter’s exercise of its First Amendment rights.” The company claims that Paxton’s “retaliation” investigation violates the First Amendment as an inappropriate use of government authority.

A Paxton spokesman did not immediately respond.

Before the inauguration of Democratic President Joe Biden, Paxton filed a lawsuit to overturn the election results in four battlefield states. It was considered a long shot, but received support from the Republican Attorney General of 17 other states before the U.S. Supreme Court quickly rejected it.

The attorney general is one of the Republican leaders in Texas who launched a campaign against tech and social media companies after officials and followers took action because they sowed the electoral doubts that fueled the Capitol uprising.

Twitter is one of five technology and social media ventures that Paxton has asked civilian investigators to learn about the procedures such companies use to regulate postings or user accounts.

Paxton, who attended the protest that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol, criticized the move of companies to the siege, which included Twitter banning Trump from his platform.

“The seemingly coordinated deployment of the President of the United States and several leading voices not only cools freedom of speech, but also silences those whose speech and political beliefs do not align with leaders of Big Tech enterprises,” Paxton said in A Jan. 13 news report.

Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott introduced Texas legislation aimed at censoring social media companies’ censorship of conservative voices. Senate Bill 12 prohibits social media companies – including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – from blocking, banning, demonizing or otherwise discriminating against a user based on their position or location in Texas.

Lieutenant General Dan Patrick, who chairs the Senate in Texas, has identified the bill as one of his 31 priorities for this legislative session. State Senator Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, sponsors the measure. He submitted a similar bill in 2019 that received Senate approval, but died in committee in the State House.

In its filing on Monday, Twitter outlined their suspension of several accounts, including Trump’s personal account, which they banned due to his false allegations about the presidential election and the January 6 attacks on the US capital. Five days after the president’s Twitter account was suspended on January 8, Paxton released the civilian investigations to Twitter and four other technology and social media businesses.

In the case, Twitter said that although the company ‘strives for transparency’, the disclosure of such documents ‘undermines Twitter’s ability to moderate content on its platform effectively and efficiently.’

Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms came under fire because it made it possible to spread misinformation and spread violence like the January 6 attacks. Last year, Democratic lawmakers introduced a congressional bill that would hold social media companies accountable for reinforcing such content, but the proposal received little traction.

Twitter’s lawsuit comes as Paxton faces a series of other legal issues, including claims of abuse of office and bribery. Former assistants allege the attorney general used his power to assist an Austin real estate developer in legal matters after he helped Paxton renovate his home and employed a woman with whom Paxton allegedly had an affair. had. The charges by the whistleblowers apparently resulted in an FBI investigation.

Four of the former assistants claim they were fired in retaliation for telling authorities they believe Paxton did illegal favors for a political donor and that he is suing. During a March 1 bell-ringing hearing, which Paxton did not attend, attorneys representing his office argued Paxton was not a public employee and could not be sued under the Texas Whistleblower Act. The Attorney General had earlier dismissed the claims against him as ‘false allegations’ of ‘rogue employees’.