Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton unblocked nine Twitter users after they sued him for allegedly violating their First Amendment rights to criticize him.
TWITTER SUSPENDS ACCOUNT THAT WAS POSTING TRUMP STATEMENTS
The Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which represents the plaintiffs in the suit, said their clients were no longer blocked by Paxton as of Thursday.
“We’re pleased that Attorney General Paxton has agreed to unblock our plaintiffs in this lawsuit and are hopeful that he will do the same for anyone else he has blocked from his Twitter account simply because he doesn’t like what they have to say,” said Katie Fallow, a senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute.
Among those represented in the lawsuit, which was filed in a federal court for the Western District of Texas in Austin, include an immigration activist, a University of Texas-Austin student, and the director of a liberal media organization. All are Texas residents.
One plaintiff alleged Paxton, a Republican, blocked him after he tweeted a reference to the attorney general’s “outstanding indictments” and “speculation” that he was seeking a preemptive pardon from former President Donald Trump.
The user also reported tweeting at Paxton to wear a mask in response to a photo the attorney general posted of him and someone else at the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference. Paxton and the other person in the photo were not wearing masks in a break with a public health recommendation made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
The central argument in the suit was that Twitter serves as a designated public forum. The U.S. Supreme Court’s public forum doctrine defines these spaces as places for free exchange and exempt from government interference, according to Law & Crime.
Similar suits brought forth by users blocked in the past by high-profile public figures such as Trump and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have also styled arguments around the notion of the doctrine.
Paxton’s office has not responded to the suit in a pleading or motion.
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The Washington Examiner did not immediately hear back from Paxton upon request for comment.
