JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, in partnership with Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, has directed a letter to major companies who pulled their advertisements from X, formerly known as Twitter. The two attorneys general, who have partnered together on the landmark free speech case, Missouri v. Biden, to combat government censorship on social media platforms wanted to let the corporations know that Missouri has opened an investigation into Media Matters for allegedly fraudulent behavior.
The attorneys general assert, “In the age of social media, events move at lightning speed. Stories with little factual basis sweep the nation, and the progressive mob demands immediate action. Sometimes respected American corporations such as yours are targeted by these shrill voices, demanding they join in protests, boycotts and other campaigns designed to exact social, reputational or financial cost to the targeted entity.
“Such was the case recently when allegations were made that X (formerly known as Twitter) had created an algorithm that deliberately placed offensive, anti-Semitic messaging next to the advertisements of various large corporations. This story spread like wildfire, deliberately fanned into life by an organization called Media Matters, a group organized under non-profit laws and given the tax benefits of a 501(c)(3) due to its publicly stated mission of ‘comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. Media’—a mission that appears to belie the organization’s true purpose of targeting and suppressing speech with which it disagrees.”
They continue, “As it turns out, Media Matters’ campaign against X appears to have been rooted in thin air. There are serious, credible allegations that Media Matters deliberately manufactured a deceptive story and manipulated X’s algorithm to falsely suggest that fringe, extremist content regularly appears next to content from corporate advertisers when in fact the opposite is true. In doing so, Media Matters violated its stated organizational purpose of ‘correcting … misinformation’ by creating quite a bit of its own. Not only are such actions repugnant, but they may well violate the law to the extent the company solicited funds from donors under false pretenses, a matter currently under investigation.
“Sometimes these militant campaigns to punish the free speech of others have short-term success. You may recall how activists were able to get Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game moved out of Atlanta based on trumped-up and false allegations of racism—spread by the President, no less—after the Georgia General Assembly enacted reforms to the state’s voting laws. Yet, now we see that the same All-Star Game is returning to Georgia in 2025 as genuine facts emerged and the false smear fell apart.”
“Similarly, in the case at hand, those now attempting to discredit and commercially attack X have demonstrated their disregard for truth and the free exchange of ideas. They seem to have one guiding principle: power – specifically, the power to punish their enemies.”
The attorneys general conclude, “As publically announced this week, Missouri is launching an investigation into Media Matters. Missouri has demanded Media Matters retain documents and internal communications relating to its fraudulent campaign against X. Given the publicly reported effort to co-opt corporations into assisting Media Matters in its potentially illegal effort to financially target X based on inauthentic, manufactured and malicious activity, we felt it necessary to directly provide you with notice of Missouri’s actions. Millions of our states’ residents shop at your business, use your services, or earn their livelihoods as your employees. The last thing we would want is for you to be swindled by activist deception and dive into a controversial issue that only harms Americans and free speech.”
“We encourage you to strongly consider this context and the perverse incentives of activists before quickly jumping to conclusions based on assertions that are likely false.”
The letter to Apple can be viewed here: https://ago.mo.gov/…/2023.12.14-Apple-Media-Matters…
The letter to Disney can be viewed here: https://ago.mo.gov/…/2023.12.14-Disney-Media-Matters…
The letter to IBM can be viewed here: https://ago.mo.gov/…/2023.12.14-IBM-Media-Matters…
The letter to Lions Gate Entertainment can be viewed here: https://ago.mo.gov/…/2023.12.14-Lions-Gate…
The letter to NBC Universal-Comcast can be viewed here: https://ago.mo.gov/…/2023.12.14-NBC-Universal-Comcast…
The letter to Paramount Plus can be viewed here: https://ago.mo.gov/…/2023.12.14-Paramount-Plus-Media…
The letter to Sony can be viewed here: https://ago.mo.gov/…/2023.12.14-Sony-Media-Matters…
The letter to Ubisoft can be viewed here: https://ago.mo.gov/…/2023.12.14-Ubisoft-Media-Matters…
The letter to Warner Brothers can be viewed here: https://ago.mo.gov/…/2023.12.14-Warner-Brothers-Media…