He cited ‘serious allegations that your firm falsely and deceptively manipulated the algorithm on X (formerly known as Twitter).’
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has announced an investigation into the progressive media monitor Media Matters of America for “potentially unlawful business practices.”
On Dec. 11, the office of Mr. Bailey, a Republican, sent a notice to Media Matters President and CEO Angelo Carusone, informing him that the Missouri Attorney General’s Office has opened an investigation into the Washington-based organization.
Founded in 2004, Media Matters calls itself a “progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.”
X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, filed a federal defamation suit in Texas against Media Matters in November.
The suit came after Media Matters published a report claiming that X placed ads for major corporations—such as Apple Inc. and International Business Machines Corp.—next to “content that touts Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party.”
Media Matters followed up with another report saying companies like Amazon.com, Inc. are seeing ads served next to “white nationalist hashtags.”
Corporations Pulled Ads
Leading firms like IBM, Apple, Walt Disney Co., and Warner Bros Discovery Inc., according to Media Matters, began to pull their advertising from X on Nov. 17.
“As you are no doubt aware, a federal lawsuit has been filed against Media Matters, raising serious allegations that your firm falsely and deceptively manipulated the algorithm on X (formerly known as Twitter) through coordinated, inauthentic behavior and that you did so in an attempt to defame the organization and cause advertisers to pull their support from the platform, thus harming free speech,” Mr. Bailey’s letter said.
“The lawsuit alleges that you lied to the public, falsely suggesting that fringe, extremist content regularly appears next to content from corporate advertisers when in fact the opposite is true. At the same time, you appear to have used this coordinated, inauthentic activity to solicit charitable donations from consumers across the country.”
