Twitter on Monday filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), saying that his office launched an investigation into the social media giant because it banned former President Trump from its platform.
Driving the news: Twitter is seeking to halt an investigation launched by Paxton into moderation practices by Big Tech firms including Twitter for what he called “the seemingly coordinated de-platforming of the President,” days after they banned him following the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
In the suit, filed in a Northern California court, Twitter said “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.”
Twitter said it has rights under the First Amendment “to make decisions about what content to disseminate through its platform,” including “the discretion to remove or otherwise restrict access to Tweets, profiles, or other content posted to Twitter.”
The company added in an emailed statement that in this case, “the Texas Attorney General is misusing the powers of his office to infringe on Twitter’s First Amendment rights and attempt to silence free speech.”
Source: Axios