Shortly after Elon Musk filed a “thermonuclear” lawsuit against Media Matters, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched a fraud investigation into the far-left media watchdog.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) issued a press release from Paxton accusing Media Matters of “potential fraudulent activity. It in he stated, “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.”
The investigation stems from accusations by X CEO Elon Musk that Media Matters manipulated data on the microblogging site formerly known as Twitter. Media Matters alleges that major corporations’ ads appear next to antisemitic posts due to the social media site’s algorithms.
Per Mediaite:
Media Matters published a report last week showing ads from major companies running next to pro-Nazi content. The report came two days after Musk tweeted his approval of an anti-Semitic post on X (formerly known as Twitter) accusing Jews of pushing “hatred against whites” and their replacement by “hordes of minorities.”
In response to Musk’s post, several major brands announced they are pulling their business from the platform.
X executives claim that Media Matters successfully manipulated both the public and advertisers by placing hateful content next to ads.
Media Matters criticized the lawsuit as frivolous, with its president calling it “hogwash.”
“Far from the free speech advocate he claims to be, Musk is a bully who threatens meritless lawsuits in an attempt to silence reporting that he even confirmed is accurate,” Media Matters President Angelo Carusone stated.
Mediaite continues:
Piggybacking off Musk’s claims, Paxton issued a press release on Monday night, saying it has opened a probe into the website:
The Texas House of Representatives impeached Paxton earlier this fall. He survived a vote to convict in the state senate but faces criminal trial next year for securities fraud.
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