A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by Twitter against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that was designed to keep him from investigating the company.
Judge Maxine Chesney on Tuesday sided with Paxton, calling Twitter’s lawsuit “premature.” Chesney added that Twitter’s First Amendment claims of protection against investigation were “unpersuasive,” especially since Paxton had not in any way penalized the company.
Paxton also added the following in a statement:
Twitter’s lawsuit was little more than an attempt to avoid answering my questions about their large-scale censorship and content-moderation policies,” said Attorney General Paxton. “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.
In an earlier release, he explained his rationale for the investigation.
First Amendment rights and transparency must be maintained for a free online community to operate and thrive. However, the seemingly coordinated de-platforming of the President of the United States and several leading voices not only chills free speech, it wholly silences those whose speech and political beliefs do not align with leaders of Big Tech companies. Every American should be concerned about this large-scale silencing and the effects it will have on the future of free speech,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The public deserves the truth about how these companies moderate and possibly eliminate speech they disagree with. I am hopeful that these companies will set aside partisan politics and cooperate with these CIDs in order to get to the bottom of this contention and ensure a truly free online community consistent with the highest American ideals.
The best way to deal with these social monopolies that have far too much control over speech in America is to break them up. No one cares if Parler bans Joe Biden or the New York Times comments section bans Donald Trump because they’re not monopolies. Break up monopolies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, and guess what? They cease to become a threat to free speech. Failing that, Republican attorney generals need to follow Ken Paxton’s lead and go after these monopolies that are censoring their constituents. The greater the concentration of power, the bigger threat there is to your freedom, and contrary to what some people may believe, that threat is not solely limited to the government.
John Hawkins is the author of 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know. You can find him on Parler here and at Cryptonewslinks.com.
Don’t miss The Dan Bongino Show
