Exclusive-FTC probes Media Matters over Musk's X boycott claims, document shows
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has demanded documents from Media Matters about possible coordination with other media watchdogs accused by Elon Musk of helping orchestrate advertiser boycotts of X, according to a document seen by Reuters on Thursday.
The civil investigative demand seen by Reuters seeks information about Media Matters' communications with other groups that evaluate misinformation and hate speech in news and social media, including a World Federation of Advertisers initiative called Global Alliance for Responsible Media. X has ongoing lawsuits against both organizations.
The probe marks an escalation in U.S. government scrutiny of whether groups like Media Matters helped advertisers coordinate to pull ad dollars from X after Musk bought the social media site formerly known as Twitter in 2022.
The demand seeks all documents Media Matters, a Washington, D.C.-based liberal advocacy group, has produced or received in the X lawsuit related to advertiser boycotts.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, who was appointed by President Donald Trump to run the agency, highlighted the potential for a probe in December.
"We must prosecute any unlawful collusion between online platforms, and confront advertiser boycotts which threaten competition among those platforms," Ferguson said in a statement on an unrelated case.
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Republican member Jim Jordan, accused the Global Alliance for Responsible Media last year of coordinating an illegal group boycott. The initiative was shut down in August.
A spokesperson for the FTC declined to comment.
Media Matters and the World Federation of Advertisers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
An investigative demand is not proof of wrongdoing, and not all investigations result in the FTC taking enforcement action.
Advertising spending on X is set to increase in 2025 for the first time since Musk bought it in 2022, research firm Emarketer said in March, but it remains below its pre-Musk level. The Tesla CEO was a major donor to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and runs his initiative to slash the federal workforce.
Last year, X sued the World Federation of Advertisers and a group of major brands in federal court in Texas, accusing them of illegally conspiring to curtail ad spending.
The group has asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, contending that advertisers chose other platforms based on their concerns about X's commitment to brand safety.
Media Matters and X are battling each other in federal courts in Texas and California.
X sued Media Matters in 2023, accusing the organization of defaming it in an article that said ads for major brands had appeared next to posts on X that touted far-right extremist content.
Media Matters has denied the allegations, and sued X, accusing it of abusive, costly and meritless lawsuits to punish the group for its reporting on advertising on X after Musk purchased the site.
The organization has said defending against X's claims has cost it millions of dollars.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
8 hours ago
- CNA
Singapore exploring 'worst-case scenario' solutions for its Harvard students: Vivian Balakrishnan
SINGAPORE: Singapore is trying to find solutions to deal with the "worst-case scenario" where Singaporean Harvard University students are not able to physically study in Boston, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said on Saturday (Jun 7). His ministry will continue to seek clarification on international student visas with the US State Department and Department of Homeland Security, he told reporters, though he made no promises that the matter would be resolved in time. Dr Balakrishnan on Saturday completed a four-day working visit to Washington DC. This was the first ministerial visit to the US since both countries elected new governments. Harvard's ability to enrol international students was thrown into turmoil last month after the US government said it would block the university from accepting foreign students, affecting study plans. Though all Singaporean students are set to be affected by the visa issue and possible delays in processing their applications, those studying at Harvard have the "greatest concern", and Singapore's ambassador to the US, Mr Lui Tuck Yew, has held a virtual townhall with them. "We are also trying to find solutions to deal with the worst-case scenario where they would not be able to physically study in Boston," Dr Balakrishnan said, adding that the ministry has some ideas about how to help the students deal with that "without impairing their academic and professional progress". Those who are not in the US yet and have not secured visas may need to have backup plans, he said. "But my main point is we will stay in touch, and we will continue to keep you informed." A court on Thursday ruled that the government cannot enforce US President Donald Trump's latest move to bar most new international students at Harvard from entering the country, following legal action by the university. Beyond Harvard, Reuters also reported last month that the US ordered its consular offices to stop scheduling new visa interviews for students and exchange visitors. "I am not in a position to give any guarantees that this will be resolved in time," said Dr Balakrishnan, when asked about contingencies being planned for Singaporean students. He noted that it is already June, and the academic year in the US usually begins in August. "We will have to watch this space, but rest assured that we will continue to do our best to try to at least get clarification, get certainty ... (and) thereafter, give our students specific advice," he said. Dr Balakrishnan said he hoped that there will be clarifications from US authorities in the next few days, but that these are domestic political issues. "The situation confronting our students is not confined to Singapore, but indeed to all international students," he said. "It is not directed at us. Nevertheless, you can become affected as collateral damage." He added that it is in the interest of both countries keep opportunities open to Singaporeans who want to study and even work in the US. "I hope we will be able to find suitable solutions for our students who want to pursue educational opportunities in the United States." "NO HURDLES" Dr Balakrishnan also said there were no challenges in interacting with his US counterparts during his trip. "There were no hurdles or impediments interacting with the Americans ... We got along in our own usual direct and constructive manner," he said, adding that there was no anxiety on that front. "The anxiety is that we have reached the end of a world order that has prevailed for 80 years, and we are now in a period of transition to a new world order." Singapore has benefited from open trade and free flow of investments and the multilateral rules-based order, he said. "That is clearly changing, and the time of greatest danger is the interregnum – the transition period from one world order to the next. That is why this is a time where we need to be alert, we need to keep our eyes and ears open, and we need to respond promptly and quickly to changes." It is also important to interact frequently, candidly, openly and constructively, especially with a superpower which is of "great strategic importance to us", he said. In response to a question on how tariff discussions are going, Dr Balakrishnan said it will take time because the US is looking for multiple rounds of negotiation with its trading partners. Based on conversations with senators and members of Congress from the two major US political parties, there is still a recognition that trade, investment, intellectual property protection, reliability and supply chain security are vital issues, he said. "Do not just look at the headline numbers of what the tariffs are, but rather think about the primary considerations and anxieties of policy makers across the whole world," he said. Negotiators from different countries have to exercise discretion and care in how they seek to preserve and protect their national interests.
CNA
13 hours ago
- CNA
Abrego Garcia, mistakenly deported, is returned to US to face migrant smuggling charges
WASHINGTON: Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man mistakenly deported from Maryland to El Salvador by the Trump administration, was flown back to the United States to face criminal charges of transporting illegal immigrants within the country, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Friday (Jun 6). Abrego Garcia's return marks a turning point in a case that became a flashpoint for critics of President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration policies, who pointed to it as a sign that the administration was disregarding civil liberties in its push to step up deportations. The 29-year-old Salvadoran, whose wife and young child in Maryland are US citizens, appeared in federal court in Nashville on Friday evening. His arraignment was set for Jun 13, when he will enter a plea, according to local media reports. Until then, he will remain in federal custody. If he is convicted, he would be deported to El Salvador after serving his sentence, Bondi said. The Trump administration has said Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, an accusation that his lawyers deny. Officials on Friday portrayed the indictment of Abrego Garcia by a grand jury in Tennessee as vindication of their approach to immigration enforcement. "The man has a horrible past and I could see a decision being made, bring him back, show everybody how horrible this guy is," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that it was the US Justice Department that decided to bring Abrego Garcia back. According to the indictment, Abrego Garcia worked with at least five co-conspirators as part of a smuggling ring to bring immigrants to the US illegally, and then transport them from the US-Mexico border to other destinations in the country. Abrego Garcia often picked up migrants in Houston, and made more than 100 trips between Texas and Maryland between 2016 and 2025, the indictment said. The indictment also alleges Abrego Garcia transported firearms and drugs. According to the indictment, one of Abrego Garcia's co-conspirators belonging to the same ring was involved in the transportation of migrants whose tractor trailer overturned in Mexico in 2021, resulting in 50 deaths. Abrego Garcia's lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, called the criminal charges "fantastical" and a "kitchen sink" of allegations. "This is all based on the statements of individuals who are currently either facing prosecution or in federal prison," he said. "I want to know what they offered those people." Abrego Garcia was deported on Mar 15, more than two months before the charges were filed. He was briefly held in a mega-prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), despite an immigration judge's 2019 order barring him from being sent to El Salvador because he would likely be persecuted by gangs. At a press conference, Bondi said Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele had agreed to return Abrego Garcia after US officials presented his government with an arrest warrant. "The grand jury found that over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring," Bondi said at a press conference. In a court filing on Friday, federal prosecutors asked a judge to have Abrego Garcia detained pending trial. They said Abrego Garcia got into MS-13 in El Salvador by murdering a rival gang member's mother, citing a co-conspirator whom they did not name. The indictment did not charge Abrego Garcia with murder. If convicted, Abrego Garcia could face 10 years in prison for each migrant he transported, prosecutors said. That means he could be locked away for the rest of his life, they said. TENSIONS WITH THE COURTS The case has become a symbol of escalating tensions between the Trump administration and the judiciary, which has blocked a number of the president's signature policies. More recently, the US Supreme Court has backed Trump's hardline approach to immigration in other cases. After his lawyers challenged the basis for his deportation, the US Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return, with liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor saying the government had cited no basis for what she called his "warrantless arrest". US District Judge Paula Xinis has opened a probe into what, if anything, the Trump administration had done to secure his return, after his lawyers accused officials of stonewalling their requests for information. That led to concerns among Trump's critics that his administration would openly defy court orders. In a court filing on Friday, Justice Department lawyers told Xinis that Abrego Garcia's return meant they were in compliance with the order to facilitate his return. Sandoval-Moshenberg said Abrego Garcia's return did not mean the government was in compliance, asserting that his client must be placed in immigration proceedings before the same judge who handled his 2019 case. Chris Van Hollen, a Democratic senator from Maryland who visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, said in a statement on Friday that the Trump administration has "finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States". "The administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along," Van Hollen said.
CNA
13 hours ago
- CNA
EchoStar prepares potential bankruptcy filing amid FCC review, WSJ reports
EchoStar is considering a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing as the telecommunications services firm vies to shield its cache of wireless spectrum licenses from the threat of revocation by federal regulators, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company declined to comment on the report. Last month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) notified EchoStar it was investigating the company's compliance with certain federal obligations to provide 5G service in the U.S., questioning EchoStar's buildout extension and mobile-satellite service. FCC's actions have severely limited the company's ability to make strategic decisions regarding the growth and investment of its Boost Mobile business, according to a regulatory filing by the company last month. EchoStar has previously disclosed that it missed roughly $500 million in interest payments, citing uncertainty around the ongoing FCC review.
