FTC Launches Initial Stage Of Investigation Of Media Matters Over Elon Musk's Ad Boycott Claims
UPDATED, with Media Matters comment: The Federal Trade Commission has launched the initial stages of an investigation into Media Matters, the progressive media watchdog group that has been targeted by one of Donald Trump's top allies, Elon Musk.
Reuters first reported that the FTC sent a civil investigative demand letter to Media Matters, seeking information on its contacts with a World Federation of Advertisers initiative called Global Alliance for Responsible Media, as well as other groups.
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Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters, said in a statement, 'The Trump administration has been defined by naming right-wing media figures to key posts and abusing the power of the federal government to bully political opponents and silence critics. It's clear that's exactly what's happening here, given Media Matters' history of holding those same figures to account. These threats won't work; we remain steadfast to our mission.'
An FTC spokesperson declined to comment.
Musk's X sued Media Matters in 2023 after it published a report on the placement of advertisements on the platform next to pro-Nazi and other objectionable content. A number of advertisers announced that they were pausing their placements on X, although there also was attention at the time to one of Musk's posts, in which he endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory. He later said that it was 'one of the dumbest' of his posts, while telling advertisers who left to 'go f— themselves.'
Media Matters countersued in California, alleging that Musk was forum shopping and out to punish the organization for its speech, per Reuters. Both lawsuits are pending.
Musk also sued advertisers that fled his platform, claiming that boycotts violated antitrust laws. The World Federation of Advertisers was named in the lawsuit.
The opening of an inquiry is not a surprise: FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, a Trump appointee, had signaled that he would look into advertiser boycotts – and the exodus from X in particular – before he took the top post at the agency.
'Shortly after Twitter (now X) was purchased by a free speech champion, major advertisers raced for the door and refused to advertise on X. Concerted refusals to deal — also known as group boycotts — are illegal under the Sherman Act,' Ferguson said.
Ferguson also suggested that NewsGuard, a non-partisan media rating site used by advertisers to weigh brand safety of news content sites, could be violating antitrust laws. NewsGuard has said that such government pressure threatens to chill speech protected by the First Amendment.
In March, Trump fired the FTC's two Democratic commissioners, Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. They are challenging his actions in court.
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