Ken Paxton to Newsmax TV: Twitter Doesn't Censor Liberals

Social media is biased toward the left – the same left that preaches equality – failing to permit equal protection of free speech on their platforms, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Newsmax TV.

"If you have views that they don't like, they take you off; I mean, it's not like they've been taking liberals off," Paxton told "Saturday Report" about Twitter's bans on former President Donald Trump, his supporters, and conservative users. "It's been very viewpoint-based, and if you have certain conservative views, that's when you get knocked off Twitter.

"That doesn't seem right. It doesn't seem like that's what they've been advertising their platform to do. And certainly they shouldn't be able to knock competitors out by de-platforming an entire company."

The latter refers to Google, which faces a lawsuit from AG Paxton for its "anti-­com­pet­i­tive prac­tices and decep­tive misrepresentations."

"No one wants to punish these companies," Paxton told host Carl Higbie. "They just want them to operate fairly and treat all of their consumers, you know, fairly and equally."

Specifically on Twitter, Paxton noted his office was merely seeking answers to questions from California-based Twitter, which he said it is permitted to do in Texas under Texas law, but Twitter sued in California to stop an investigation into its anti-trust violations.

"I haven't done anything to them; all I've asked them to do is answer a few questions, and it's interesting that this would be their approach that they wouldn't answer the questions," Paxton said. "The other companies that were questioning are answering the questions.

"Clearly, they don't want to answer those questions. Whether they have something to hide is something we're gonna find out the future."

Coincidentally, Twitter has Section 230 protections under the Communications Decency Act because it is a platform, but its lawsuit to stop a Texas investigation called its blocking for President Trump "an editorial decision," something that might actually make it a publisher and arguably not eligible for Section 230 protection.

"I have no problem with companies competing," Paxton concluded. "I have no problem with companies making money. I have no problem with that. What I have a problem with is that when we have a monopolistic behavior, where they're cutting other companies off, and eliminating all competition, and then limiting free speech. That's the problem."

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