Texas AG Demands Answers From Tech Companies That Booted Trump And Parler

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is demanding that Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon Web Services and Apple answer questions regarding their content moderation policies.

“For years, these Big Tech companies have silenced voices in the social media sphere and shut down competing companies and platforms,” Paxton stated Wednesday afternoon.

Paxton, who unsuccessfully sued to overturn election results in four states won by President-elect Joe Biden, also said he is specifically seeking information about Parler -- a social media platform popular with right-wing celebrities that was recently blocked by Google Play, Apple's App store and Amazon's web hosting service.

On January 6, shortly an insurrectionist mob stormed the Capitol, Twitter suspended Trump's account. The company later said it had permanently blocked him, citing a risk of further violence. Since then, Facebook and YouTube have suspended Trump's account.

Paxton stated Thursay that the “seemingly coordinated de-platforming” of Trump and others “wholly silences those whose speech and political beliefs do not align with leaders of Big Tech companies.”

It's not clear what law Paxton thinks the companies may have violated.

Numerous judges throughout the country have said that private companies like YouTube and Facebook have the right under the First Amendment to decide what speech to allow on their platforms.

2 comments about "Texas AG Demands Answers From Tech Companies That Booted Trump And Parler".
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  1. John Grono from GAP Research, January 14, 2021 at 3:58 p.m.

    I think their actions are covered under "The Bleedingly Overdue and Obvious Act, January 07, 2021".

  2. Thomas Pick from Webbiquity LLC, January 14, 2021 at 4:13 p.m.

    Parler will likely argue that this constitutes restraint of trade, an illegal anti-competitive action. Basically, they will probably try to say that Google, Amazon, and Apple acted in such a way as to prevent a new competitor to Facebook and Twitter from being able to operate.

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