Media Matters Sues FTC for ‘Retaliatory’ Investigation of Its News Report
WASHINGTON — A media watchdog organization accuses the Federal Trade Commission in a new lawsuit of retaliating against it for reporting about extremist content on social media site X.
The FTC notified Media Matters last month that it was being investigated for possibly colluding illegally with advertisers by reporting that ads were appearing on X next to pro-Nazi posts.
X is owned by Elon Musk, who led the Trump administration efforts to downsize the federal government in an efficiency move.
“The court should put an end to the latest effort by the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s government allies to punish, intimidate, and harass Media Matters for publishing reporting they do not like,” the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., says.
The Media Matters lawsuit continues a struggle between President Donald Trump and media organizations that have criticized his administration.
Trump has also sued CBS News, shut the Associated Press out of the White House press pool and moved to close down international broadcaster Voice of America.
Media Matters is a nonprofit with liberal leanings that its founder said was intended to spotlight “conservative misinformation.”
A 2023 Media Matters report said advertisements for major firms like IBM, Apple, Oracle and Comcast’s Xfinity were being displayed on X next to user posts containing antisemitic content. It included praise for Adolf Hitler.
Several large companies suspended their X advertising after the report.
Before the FTC investigation, the attorneys general of Texas and Missouri started investigating Media Matters while alleging the nonprofit was engaged in fraud for its inaccurate reports.
In both cases, Media Matters succeeded in blocking the state attorneys general by seeking injunctions that invoked First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
As with the lawsuit against the FTC this week, Media Matters argued the attorneys general were abusing their authority by trying to retaliate against the organization.
“Now the Federal Trade Commission seeks to punish Media Matters for its journalism and speech in exposing matters of substantial public concern,” the group said in its lawsuit. “The campaign of retribution against Media Matters must stop.”
The FTC demanded that Media Matters hand over communications with other organizations that evaluate misinformation and hate speech. It also is seeking information about lawsuits in which X accused some groups of conspiring in advertiser boycotts.
Media Matters said the FTC document demands were intended to help Musk fulfill his threats of “a ‘thermonuclear’ lawsuit against Media Matters — and his supporters in government were quick to pile on.”
X is suing Media Matters for defamation in an ongoing lawsuit.
The FTC investigation is part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to use law enforcement for political reprisal, despite the fact it represents violations of constitutional rights, Media Matters says.
“The Trump administration has opened investigations into former officials who were critical of the president,” the lawsuit says. “And it has targeted swaths of civil society deemed to be disloyal: universities, cultural institutions, public radio, and other media outlets.”
A representative of another target of Trump’s complaints about the media was questioned during a U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing Wednesday.
The hearing announcement called it a review of “spies, lies and mismanagement” at the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
USAGM is an independent government agency that broadcasts news around the world. Its flagship operation is Voice of America, which Trump wants to shut down.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., said during the hearing that USAGM officials “lost their way and allowed themselves to become a source of espionage. However, it’s clear that USAGM cannot continue to operate as it has in recent times.”
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