Twitter

The state attorney general says fake accounts on Twitter harm Texans’ ability to rely on the service. Elon Musk has said he wants to buy the company, but he’s also concerned about what he says are a large number of spam and bot accounts.

Twitter has said bots and fake users represent less than 5% of its accounts, but Paxton says the percentage may be higher. The inquiry comes as Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is in negotiations to buy Twitter, is also raising questions about the number of fake accounts on the platform.

What happens when the Texas Standard throws Twitter a quinceañera?

Beleaguered Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who attended the pro-Donald Trump rally that preceded the U.S. Capitol siege, issued civil investigative demands to Twitter after the company banned the former president from its platform.

Senate Bill 12 would prohibit social media companies — including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube — from blocking, banning, demonetizing or otherwise discriminating against a user based on their viewpoint or their location within Texas.

Lindell, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, had been using his Twitter account to spread disinformation about the 2020 presidential election, including false claims of voter fraud.

The Biden-Harris administration is inheriting a slew of institutional Twitter accounts, including @WhiteHouse, @POTUS, @VP, @FLOTUS, @PressSec and a brand-new one: @SecondGentleman.

Twitter said that given the events last week in Washington, D.C., where a mob of pro-Trump loyalists tried to violently storm the Capitol building, it was taking action against online behavior “that has the potential to lead to offline harm.”

Twitter has permanently blocked the @realDonaldTrump account after President Trump posted messages that violated the company's rules.

Twitter will label or remove posts that spread misinformation. Social media companies are under pressure to curb the spread of false claims and prevent interference from foreign and domestic actors.

Researchers say one of the operation's goals was to steer left-leaning voters away from the Biden-Harris campaign ahead of the November election.

Up to eight accounts had their private information compromised in the breach earlier this week, according to Twitter. Joe Biden, Elon Musk and Kanye West were among the users targeted.