Media Matters for America has sued the US Federal Trade Commission, claiming that the agency is unfairly targeting it in retaliation for past criticisms of the social media platform X in violation of the organization’s First Amendment rights. It’s the latest move in the ongoing hostilities between the nonprofit media watchdog and X owner Elon Musk.
“The Federal Trade Commission seeks to punish Media Matters for its journalism and speech in exposing matters of substantial public concern—including how X.com has enabled and profited from extremist content that proliferated after Elon Musk took over the platform formerly known as Twitter,” the complaint from the watchdog states. “The campaign of retribution against Media Matters must stop.”
This back-and-forth legal battle began in 2023 when Media Matters published a report finding that X ran advertisements next to antisemitic posts, which led to many prominent companies withdrawing their ads from the social media network. After Musk threatened to file a “thermonuclear lawsuit” in response, X sued Media Matters later that year, claiming the organization was attempting to push advertisers into boycotting its service. CEO Linda Yaccarino called the report “misleading and manipulative” in a note to X employees, while a representative from Media Matters told Engadget: “This is a frivolous lawsuit meant to bully X’s critics into silence. Media Matters stands behind its reporting and looks forward to winning in court.”
Last month, while Musk was still closely tied to President Donald Trump’s administration and working with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, the FTC launched its own investigation into Media Matters to determine whether the group illegally colluded with advertisers. The FTC is now comprised of only three Republican commissioners following Trump’s dismissal of two Democratic commissioners, which those former civil servants said was an illegal action by the president since their terms cannot be ended early without “good cause.” Considering that earlier today, the FTC allowed a $13.5 billion acquisition within the advertising agency on the condition that purchaser Omnicom cannot engage “in collusion or coordination to direct advertising away from media publishers based on the publishers’ political or ideological viewpoints,” it seems unlikely that the regulator will be receptive to Media Matters’ case.