Missouri AG launches investigation of Media Matters

BY DOMINICK MASTRANGELO - 12/12/23 

The opening page of X is displayed on a computer and phone in Sydney, Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. Australia’s online safety watchdog has fined X, formerly known as Twitter, $385,000 for failing to explain how it tackles child sexual exploitation on the social media platform. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) says he has launched an investigation into Media Matters for America, the progressive watchdog, following its report about harmful antisemitic content on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

In a letter to the media watchdog, Bailey wrote his office has “reason to believe Media Matters used fraud to solicit donations from Missourians in order to trick advertisers into pulling out of X, the last platform dedicated to free speech in America.”

“Radicals are attempting to kill Twitter because they cannot control it, and we are not going to let Missourians get ripped off in the process,” Bailey said. “I’m fighting to ensure progressive tyrants masquerading as news outlets cannot manipulate the marketplace in order to wipe out free speech.”

Media Matters last month published a report laying out how X, under Elon Musk’s leadership, is placing advertising next to antisemitic content. The report, in addition to controversial posts Musk has made on the platform in recent weeks, has sparked a wave of blue-chip companies to pull advertising from the platform.

Musk days later sued Media Matters, alleging in court documents the company maliciously misled the public about how the platform operates. Musk’s lawsuit was cheered by many Republican politicians and conservative pundits once it was filed.

Media Matters declined to comment on Bailey’s letter Tuesday and in a recent statement called Musk’s lawsuit “frivolous” and “meant to bully X’s critics into silence.”