Austin News

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Twitter seeking to block Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from investigating the social media platform for ousting former President Donald Trump.

"The court finds Twitter's lawsuit is premature, and, as such, is subject to dismissal,” U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney, a Bill Clinton appointee, ruled, The Hill reported.

A week after Trump was banned from Twitter, Paxton issued the company a "civil investigative demand” request for information on its practices on what it allows to be posted, and expressed concern that Twitter’s policies could violate Texas consumer protection laws. That prompted Twitter to claim in a lawsuit that the investigation was retaliation for suspending Trump.

In dismissing Twitter’s lawsuit, the judge ruled that Paxton had not tried to enforce his records request, making the suit premature.

Paxton “has no authority to impose any sanction for a failure to comply with its investigation,” the judge said. “Rather, the Office of the Attorney General would be required to go to court, where the only possible consequence adverse to Twitter would be a judicial finding that the CID, contrary to Twitter's assertion, is enforceable. Accordingly, as, to date, no action has been taken to enforce the CID, the Court finds Twitter's lawsuit is premature, and, as such, is subject to dismissal.”

Paxton praised the ruling.

“Twitter’s lawsuit was little more than an attempt to avoid answering my questions about their large-scale censorship and content-moderation policies,” Paxton said in a news release. “The public deserves the truth about Twitter’s seemingly biased practices. I will continue to fight for transparency in order to ensure a truly free online community. Any companies that violate Texas law by misleading consumers will be held accountable.”

If Paxton had tried to enforce his records request, it would likely have been in Texas, not California, giving him a “homefield advantage,” the Hollywood Reporter said.

Twitter banned Trump in January after a violent demonstration at the U.S. Capitol. Twitter claimed Trump’s posts could incited more violence.

The Hill cited a study by Zignal Labs showing that misinformation related to false election fraud claims fell by 73% after Trump and others were suspended from Twitter and other sites.