Twitter Sues Texas Attorney General Over Probe After Trump Ban

Ken PaxtonPhotographer: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg

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By Robert Burnson

March 9, 2021 at 3:53 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Twitter Inc. sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to shut down an investigation of its moderation practices that he started after the social media giant banned former President Donald Trump.

Twitter described the Republican attorney general’s probe as nothing more than an attempt to “intimidate, harass and target” the company in retaliation for its exercise of the First Amendment right to free speech.

Paxton announced his investigation of Twitter on Jan. 13, five days after the company pulled the plug on Trump after he promoted claims of rigged elections and disparaged his rivals.

Twitter said it decided to deplatform Trump after his supporters had stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 because his tweets had violated the company’s policy against promotion of violence.