Texas AG Ken Paxton launches investigation against Twitter

AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM) - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation against Twitter, saying the social media platform may have falsely reported its fake bot accounts, which is a violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

According to a press release, Paxton issued a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) to investigate whether Twitter's reporting on real versus fake users is "false, misleading, or deceptive" under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. 

"Texans rely on Twitter's public statements that nearly all its users are real people. It matters not only for regular Twitter users, but also Texas businesses and advertisers who use Twitter for their livelihoods," Paxton said in a release. "If Twitter is misrepresenting how many accounts are fake to drive up their revenue, I have a duty to protect Texans." 

The CID requires Twitter to turn over documents related to how it calculates and manages its user data and how these numbers relate to Twitter's advertising businesses.  

Twitter reportedly has until June 27 to respond to Paxton's request.  

This isn't the first time Paxton has made claims against a social media platform.  

In February, Paxton sued Facebook parent Meta, saying the company has unlawfully collected biometric data on Texans for commercial purposes, without their informed consent.