Twitter is suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to date with the most essential Texas news.

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

The social media giant’s lawsuits include a request for a temporary restraining order that prevents Paxton and his office from enforcing a demand that seeks documents that reveal the company’s internal decision-making processes to ban users, among other things.

Paxton, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, sent the company a civil investigation demand after it banned Trump from its platform following the deadly siege of the US Capitol in January.

Twitter wrote that it seeks to prevent Paxton from “unlawfully abusing his authority as the top Texas state law enforcement officer to intimidate, harass and retaliate Twitter for exercising its First Amendment rights.” The company alleged that Paxton’s “retaliation investigation” violated the First Amendment as an improper use of government authority.

A Paxton spokesman did not immediately respond to comment.

Before Democratic President Joe Biden’s inauguration, Paxton filed a lawsuit to reverse election results in four battlefield states. It was considered a long shot, but gained the backing of the Republican Attorney General of 17 other states before the U.S. Supreme Court decisively rejected it.

The attorney general is one of the Republican leaders in Texas who launched a campaign against technology and social media companies after officials and followers received repercussions for raising election doubts that fuel the uprising in the Capitol.

Twitter is one of five tech and social media companies to which Paxton has filed civil investigation demands to learn more about the procedures such companies use to regulate messages or user accounts.

Paxton, who attended the rally that preceded the US Capitol attack, criticized the actions of companies after the siege, including Twitter banning Trump from his platform.

“The apparently coordinated de-platforming of the President of the United States and various leading voices not only cools the freedom of speech, it also completely silences those whose speech and political beliefs do not agree with the Big Tech leaders. companies, ”Paxton said in a Jan. 13 press release.

Last week, Governor Greg Abbott praised Texas legislation that is trying hard to tackle alleged censorship of conservative votes. Senate Law 12 would prohibit social media companies – including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube – from blocking, banning, demonetizing, or otherwise discriminating against a user based on their position or their location in Texas.

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who chairs the Texas Senate, has identified the bill as one of his 31 priorities for this term. State Senator Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, is sponsoring the measure. He filed a similar bill in 2019 that won Senate approval, but died on a committee in the state house.

In its Monday filings, Twitter detailed their suspension of multiple accounts, including Trump’s personal account, which they banned for its false claims about the presidential election and the January 6 attacks on the Capitol. Five days after the president’s Twitter account was suspended Jan. 8, Paxton made the civil investigation demands on Twitter and four other tech and social media companies.

In the lawsuit, Twitter said that while the company is “committed to transparency,” disclosing such documents “would compromise Twitter’s ability to effectively and efficiently moderate content on its platform.”

Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms have come under fire for spreading misinformation and spreading violence, such as the January 6 attacks. Last year, Democratic lawmakers presented a bill from Congress that would hold social media companies accountable for bolstering such content, but the bill gained little traction.

Twitter’s lawsuit comes as Paxton faces a range of other legal issues, including abuse and bribery claims. Former aides allege the attorney general used his power to assist a real estate developer in Austin with legal matters after helping Paxton remodel his home and hiring a woman with whom Paxton was reportedly having an affair . The whistleblowers’ allegations have reportedly prompted an FBI investigation.

Four of the former aides allege they were fired in retaliation for telling authorities they believed Paxton had rendered illegal favors to a political donor and are suing. At a March 1 whistleblower hearing, which Paxton did not attend, attorneys representing his office argued that Paxton is not a civil servant and cannot be prosecuted under the Texas Whistleblower Act. The attorney general has previously dismissed the claims against him as “false allegations” of “rogue workers.”