A Republican lawyer is suing a private media watchdog group after it issued a report on hate speech on X (formerly Twitter), which was seen as an attack by many on the right. Elon Musk, a billionaire with controversial views on trans issues, is the subject of the report.Musk, who owns X, is mentioned in the report.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has filed a lawsuit against Media Matters, claiming the organization has not provided internal documents related to its 2023 report on the increase of hate speech on X. Media Matters has criticized Bailey's lawsuit as baseless and disruptive.
Media Matters released a report in November 2023 revealing that ads for major brands on X appeared alongside user-generated neo-Nazi content. Musk dismissed the report as false. Bailey's lawsuit marks the second time a Republican AG has sued the group on Musk’s behalf, highlighting the party’s growing inclination to use institutional power to go after organizations that criticize right-wing figures.
Bailey has accused Media Matters of violating the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act. allegingHe also accused Media Matters of using deception to obtain donations from Missourians and persuade advertisers to withdraw their ads from X. He further accused them of hindering investigations by not providing internal communications and documents linked to their 2023 report.
Bailey is requesting all documents related to the report, as well as the identities of the X accounts mentioned in it. He also wants all communications with major businesses that withdrew their ads from X following the report, an organizational chart of Media Matters employees, and any communications related to the organization's alleged strategy to get advertisers to leave the site. Bailey is seeking a court order for the organization to hand over the documents within 20 days.
Musk expressed gratitude to Bailey for his lawsuit, calling Media Matters an evil organization that aims to undermine the First Amendment. Musk had previously taken legal action against Media Matters over its report that accused the group of manipulating X's algorithms to display images of paid posts from major advertisers next to racist content. writingThe investigation in Missouri is seen by Media Matters as an attempt to suppress the First Amendment rights of researchers and reporters, potentially having a chilling effect on news coverage. claiming In a statement, Media Matters accused Elon Musk of intensifying efforts to undermine free speech by enlisting Republican attorneys general to initiate costly and disruptive investigations against the organization in an attempt to silence critics.
The organization expressed concern that Elon Musk's actions, despite his claims to support free speech, are, in fact, designed to stifle freedom of expression. Media Matters shared this stance in a written statement.This statement from Bailey is false, as X has reinforced right-wing, anti-LGBTQ+, and neo-Nazi accounts that were previously banned from the platform before Musk's acquisition in October 2022, while also recently… [continuation provided in original form]
In his statement, Bailey described X as one of the remaining platforms in America dedicated to free speech, a claim that is not accurate. censored individuals who identified a suspected neo-Nazi artist despite permitting a similar conduct — the public targeting pro-LGBTQ+ educators — by Chaya Raichik, known as Libs of TikTok on social media.
Last November, Musk informed advertisers who withdrew their support to “Go f**k yourself.” During the same month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton initiated a similar investigation into Media Matters. In January 2024, Media Matters sued Paxton filed a request with a federal court to block Paxton’s demand for internal documentation.
“Paxton’s retaliatory campaign has had its intended effect: [Media Matters and other outlets] have refrained from publishing any articles about how Musk’s ownership has led to a rise in political extremism on X since Paxton announced his investigation — despite receiving numerous tips identifying extremist content on the platform — for fear of further retaliation and harassment,” Media Matters wrote in its January lawsuit.
Republican politicians have increasingly retaliated against businesses and organizations that expose right-wing prejudice. In April 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) retaliated against Disney for critiquing his “Don’t Say Gay” law. Disney accused DeSantis of violating its First Amendment rights to free speech.
In July 2023, Musk sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) for allegedly making “troubling and baseless claims that appear calculated to harm Twitter generally and its digital advertising business specifically.” CCDH founder and CEO Imran Ahmed remarked about Musk, “He’s normalizing the idea that hatred against Muslims, Jews, Black people, LGBTQ+ people is acceptable, normal, and tolerable in society.”
A March 2023 CCDH report indicated that anti-LGBTQ+ tweets alleging queer people of “grooming” children for abuse increased 119% since Musk’s acquisition of the social media network. Five of the accounts most responsible for propagating anti-LGBTQ+ groomer attacks were set to generate up to $6.4 million per year for Twitter in ad revenues, the CCDH’s report noted.
