Twitter owner Elon Musk is suing far-left watchdog group Media Matters for possible fraudulent activity.
“Media Matters knowingly and maliciously manufactured side-by-side images depicting advertisers’ posts on X Corp.’s social media platform beside Neo-Nazi and white-nationalist fringe content and then portrayed these manufactured images as if they were what typical X users experience on the platform,” the lawsuit says.
The intention was to harm X’s advertising sales, according to the suit.
Musk’s lawsuit coincides with an investigation into Media Matters by Texas AG Ken Paxton.
“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,” Paxton said in a news release that Musk also posted on X.
Fraud has both civil & criminal penalties pic.twitter.com/BdC5Zfr1XM
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 21, 2023
From NBC News:
Media Matters, a nonprofit website, was founded in 2004 by David Brock, a former right-wing journalist who became a Democrat in the 1990s and is now a political consultant and commentator.
The lawsuit also named as a defendant Eric Hananoki, a senior investigative reporter at Media Matters and the author of the article. Hananoki did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit made a few specific legal claims. One was that Media Matters “intentionally interfered with contracts” between X and its advertisers. A second was that the website disparaged X with false statements and that it did so “with clear malice, well aware of their falsity.” And the third was that it unlawfully interfered with business relationships.
Elon Musk's social media company, X, sues Media Matters for America over the watchdog’s report about ads appearing alongside Nazi content. https://t.co/nHHDS3JPC3
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 21, 2023