A federal appeals court has dismissed Twitter’s lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, which accused him of retaliating for the social media platform’s ban of former President Donald Trump.

Twitter’s procedural defeat on Wednesday allows Texas’ investigation into Twitter to proceed, though the probe may still get slapped down in the future.

Mr. Paxton launched an investigation into Twitter after it expelled Mr. Trump last year and the Texas Republican issued a civil investigative demand for information about the company’s content moderation policies.

Twitter sued in response and said the demand was government retaliation for speech protected by the First Amendment.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday that Twitter’s case was not ready for a judicial decision. The three-judge panel affirming a lower court’s ruling to toss the case noted that Mr. Paxton had not yet made an allegation against Twitter.

BREAKING: Last year, I launched an investigation into Twitter’s coordinated cancellation of Trump & conservative voices/platforms. Twitter sued me to get me to stop. I punched back & won at the district court &, just today, won at the appeals court. Big Tech is not above the law! https://t.co/sXMANoDJPb

— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) March 2, 2022