DALLAS — A California judge has dismissed a Twitter lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in which the social medium accused the Republican of using his office to retaliate for Twitter’s banning the account of former President Donald Trump.
Twitter had imposed the lifetime ban following the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in which five people died. Days later, Paxton announced an investigation into Twitter and four other major technology companies for what he called “the seemingly coordinated de-platforming of the President.” The attorney general’s office demanded that the companies produce various records related to their content moderation policies and troves of internal communications.
Twitter responded March 8 with a federal lawsuit alleging Paxton is seeking to punish it for taking Trump’s account offline — a decision the social media company says is protected free speech.
In her Tuesday ruling, Senior U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney of San Francisco ruled that Paxton’s administrative summonses were not “self-executing,” meaning that Twitter was not bound to comply with them absent a court order.