Twitter is suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), trying to prevent his office from retaliating against the company for its decision to ban the President Trump
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Politico first reported the case on Monday night, which opened in Northern California. The suit accuses Paxton of using the powers of his elected office to retaliate against the company for what he called a First Amendment-protected decision.
The Hill contacted Twitter and the Texas attorney general for comment.
“Paxton made it clear that he will use the full weight of his position, including his broad investigative powers, to retaliate against Twitter for making editorial decisions that he disagrees with,” Twitter lawyers said in court documents, according to Politico.
“Twitter tries to prevent AG Paxton from illegally abusing his authority as the highest law enforcement officer in the State of Texas to intimidate, harass and attack Twitter in retaliation for Twitter’s exercise of its First Amendment rights,” they continued , according to the Politico.
The lawsuit revolves around Paxton’s promise to investigate Twitter about his decision to ban Trump from the platform after the deadly violation of the United States Capitol in January. Paxton sent a civil investigation request to the company asking for information about the ban in mid-January, the Texas Tribune reported.
Twitter permanently suspended Trump’s account on January 8, two days after the riot, explaining at the time that two of the president’s tweets sent after the riot could be interpreted as tolerating violence.
“Due to ongoing tensions in the United States and an increase in global conversation about the people who violently invaded the Capitol on January 6, 2021, these two Tweets should be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which statements by the president can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior of this report in recent weeks, ”said the company at the time.