Media Matters Sues Texas AG in Maryland Over Investigation of Its Report on Musk’s X

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the launch of an antitrust investigation into large tech companies outside of the Supreme Court in Washington on Sept. 9, 2019. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Media Matters for America is suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in federal court, arguing that reporting by its senior investigative reporter on Elon Musk’s X app is being “chilled” by the AG’s announced investigation.

Media Matters, a progressive watchdog group, filed its lawsuit Tuesday. It had reported last month that, according to its analysis, X was a platform hosting bigots and that it had paid far-right extremists, warning advertisers that their content was running beside pro-Hitler and anti-Semitic content.

The report was then cited by major companies, like Apple, Disney, Sony, and Fox Sports, who announced they were boycotting the platform from their advertising campaigns. This triggered Mr. Paxton to announce on Nov. 21 an investigation into Media Matters “for potential fraudulent activity” in its report, after X responded to the allegations saying that the progressive group had manufactured its results.

X has sued Media Matters for defamation over the report in a Texas federal court, citing advertising data showing that report author Eric Hananoki was among only two users to see an Apple ad next to the hateful content, while explaining that content follows the search history of users.

“Attorney General Paxton was extremely troubled by the allegations that Media Matters, a radical anti-free speech organization, fraudulently manipulated data on X.com (formerly known as Twitter),” the Office of the Attorney General in Texas said in announcing its investigation following X’s comments.

Mr. Paxton argued that his case was to protect the First Amendment rights of Texans. X has come under attack from progressive groups after Mr. Musk’s takeover of Twitter and the release of internal communications that revealed the company censored speech in favor of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden in the run-up to the 2020 election.

Mr. Paxton’s office explained in its statement that it was pursuing its investigation of Media Matters’s report under the Texas Business Organizations Code and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which allows his office to “vigorously enforce against nonprofits who commit fraudulent acts in or affecting the state of Texas.”

“We are examining the issue closely to ensure that the public has not been deceived by the schemes of radical left-wing organizations who would like nothing more than to limit freedom by reducing participation in the public square,” Mr. Paxton said of the negative publicity directed at X since Mr. Musk’s takeover and efforts to reform the platform in favor of free speech for all Americans, regardless of political view.

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.”

Media Matters is asking a judge in a federal court in Maryland to permanently block Mr. Paxton’s investigation, arguing that the AG office’s request to “rifle through their most sensitive journalistic and organizational documents” would be a violation of their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

Mr. Paxton’s investigation didn’t request Media Matters to stop publishing its findings, although Media Matters said in its court filing, “Draft articles [Mr. Hananoki] intended to publish about violent extremism on X were cut for fear of further retaliation from Paxton.”

“Hananoki wishes to continue writing and publishing articles about how Musk’s ownership of X has enabled political extremism on the platform but Defendant Paxton’s actions demanding unbounded disclosure of Hananoki’s newsgathering sources and means have chilled his speech,” it claimed.

Maryland is the home state of Media Matters senior investigative reporter Mr. Hananoki, who authored the report. Media Matters in its filing also argued that Maryland and the District of Columbia, the only regions that the reporter has worked from, have “shield” laws that protect journalists from being compelled to disclose statutorily protected, confidential sources.

It also alleged that the Texas AG’s efforts were “a baseless and arbitrary government investigation in a state to which they have no relevant connection.”

Mr. Musk had welcomed Mr. Paxton’s probe, saying on X, “Fraud has both civil & criminal penalties.”

X is also suing Media Matters for unlawfully interfering in its relationship with advertisers.

Meanwhile, Missouri AG Andrew Bailey earlier announced his own investigation into Media Matters for “potentially unlawful business practices.”

Mr. Bailey’s letter accused the progressive organization of doing so “in an attempt to defame the organization and cause advertisers to pull their support from the platform, thus harming free speech.”

“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,” Mr. Bailey said in a release. “I’m fighting to ensure progressive tyrants masquerading as news outlets cannot manipulate the marketplace in order to wipe out free speech.”

Earlier in the week, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said that he had sent letters to 18 company CEOs about their decision to boycott X while continuing to do business with the China-owned social media platform TikTok.

“I’m just asking for a little consistency,” he said in a statement reported on by Fox Business. “If these corporations are boycotting X out of concern for their reputation, then I expect them to maintain that standard on all social media platforms.”

“If these companies are truly interested in safeguarding their brand, they should immediately boycott TikTok, which is controlled by Communist China and overflowing with hateful content.”