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Media Matters for America, the Soros-backed censorship group, is now on the verge of collapse as a result of a series of costly lawsuits and investigations.
According to a new report by The New York Times, the group is in crisis after an aggressive attempt to trigger a boycott of X, after Elon Musk’s purchase of the platform.
After Media Matters published a report accusing X of placing adverts from major brands next to “extremist” content, Musk accused the group of manipulating data and filed a lawsuit for fraud and defamation.
Musk’s lawsuit accuses Media Matters of deploying “coordinated, inauthentic behavior” to mislead advertisers, leading to an exodus from the platform that cost it $75 million in lost revenue.
Musk has sworn to pursue “not just the organization, but anyone funding that organization.” He has described his lawsuit as “thermonuclear.”
The Texas and Missouri attorneys general initiated their own investigations into the group’s activities.
The group has incurred legal costs of over $15 million in the last two years and alienated its donors, and now faces an investigation from the Federal Trade Commission into whether it colluded with other organizations to suppress advertising revenue on X.
The possibility of a government probe into Media Matters was first brought up in December by Andrew Ferguson, who was appointed by President Donald Trump to run the FTC.
“We must prosecute any unlawful collusion between online platforms, and confront advertiser boycotts which threaten competition among those platforms,” Ferguson said.
In response to these multiple legal threats, Media Matters has been forced to scale back its operations and lay off large numbers of staff. There have even been suggestions the group will shutter its operations entirely.
Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters, has accused the Trump administration of abusing its authority by pursuing the group.
“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.”
