Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton loves to preach about “free speech” and “free markets”—except, apparently, when it comes to his political allies. In a stunningly hypocritical and authoritarian move, Paxton has launched an “investigation” to bully advertisers who have chosen not to support Elon Musk’s troubled ExTwitter platform.
This is a chilling attack on both free speech and free markets. Ken Paxton has gone from cosplaying as a free speech warrior to acting as Elon Musk’s personal speech cop, using the power of the state to punish companies who won’t support Musk’s online kingdom. The hypocrisy would be laughable if the authoritarian overtones weren’t so chilling.
Remember, Elon Musk himself told advertisers who disagreed with his position on content moderation to go fuck themselves. And yet, now he’s egging on this sham “investigation.”
Paxton’s actions are part of a disturbing pattern of Republican leaders who claim to be free speech champions, but are quick to use government power to punish speech they dislike. From DeSantis’ attacks on Disney to Trump’s threats against media critics, the right increasingly sees free speech as a one-way street.
Many major advertisers have pulled back spending on ExTwitter due to concerns about an increase in hate speech and misinformation on the platform under Musk’s leadership. This isn’t the result of some coordinated boycott or conspiracy. They are simply making the rational business decision to worry about their ads appearing next to objectionable content and damaging their brands. Choosing where to spend ad dollars based on a media company’s content policies is a normal business decision, not a “conspiracy.”
It really was just a few months ago that Paxton’s similarly cynical, opportunistic sham “investigation” into Media Matters got laughed out of court. That investigation was also on a similar “let’s suck up to Elon” basis, after Elon got mad at a news article published by Media Matters that highlighted how ads for big Fortune 500 companies were showing up next to neo-Nazi content.
In that case, everyone admitted that the ads did show up next to that content, but Elon didn’t like that Media Matters didn’t explain the steps it took to have those ads show up that way. So he not only sued Media Matters directly but also called for state AGs to investigate. Ken Paxton immediately jumped on that.
A judge in DC called out just how problematic Paxton’s “investigation” was, and how it was a clear retaliation against Media Matters for its speech:
Defendant’s investigation of Media Matters is “retaliatory action sufficient to deter a person of ordinary firmness in plaintiff’s position from speaking again[.]” … Defendant makes no contrary argument…
But getting dinged by the court apparently has not stopped Paxton from wanting to launch similarly chilling “investigations” into others for their free market and free speech decisions.
On Thursday, Paxton announced he had launched an investigation into advertisers for the apparent crime of not advertising on Elon Musk’s ExTwitter platform:
Attorney General Paxton is investigating a possible coordinated plan or conspiracy to withhold advertising dollars from certain social media platforms by pressuring advertisers not to purchase online advertising space. Although companies are free to choose when and where they want to advertise, a conspiracy among companies along these lines can result in harm to competition and may violate the Texas Free Enterprise and Antitrust Act of 1983. The civil investigative demand requests documents and information related to WFA and its sub-organization known as the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (“GARM”) organizing their membership to potentially boycott social media platforms that are deemed to violate their “Brand Safety Standards.”
“It is completely unacceptable and un-American that the Department of Justice under the Biden Administration failed to enforce antitrust laws against its perceived political allies,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Trade organizations and companies cannot collude to block advertising revenue from entities they wish to undermine. Today’s document request is part of an ongoing investigation to hold WFA and its members accountable for any attempt to rig the system to harm organizations they might disagree with.”
This is monstrously gross partisan hackery against completely understandable marketplace decisions. But it gives you a good sense of the kind of hackery to expect over the next few years. Daring not to give Trump allies money will be seen as “illegal boycotts.”
By launching this bad-faith investigation into advertisers’ choices, Paxton is wielding the power of the state to bully companies into supporting his political allies. This is a blatant effort to chill the speech of Musk’s critics and coerce businesses into spending money on his platform, even if they object to how it’s being run. It’s an authoritarian tactic masquerading as an antitrust probe.
It’s clear to everyone that this is corrupt. It’s nakedly designed to create chilling effects and pressure companies into giving money to ideological allies of Donald Trump and Elon Musk. It’s cynical, obnoxious, and an attack on free speech and the rights of companies to choose not to advertise on sites they dislike.
Paxton’s “investigation” is a political stunt with no legal merit. It tramples on the free speech rights of Musk’s critics and the freedom of companies to make their own advertising decisions. This kind of bullying of businesses by the state is a disturbing attack on fundamental liberties, but Paxton seems to be betting on the idea that we’re in an era where “it’s okay to trample on free speech rights, so long as it’s Trump-supporters doing it.”
