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Elon Musk has sued media watchdogs over advertising

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FTC demands communications between Media Matters, others

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FTC chairman has called potential group boycotts unlawful

By Jody Godoy, Mike Scarcella

May 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has

demanded documents from Media Matters about possible

coordination with other media watchdogs accused by Elon Musk of

helping orchestrate advertiser boycotts of X, according to a

document seen by Reuters on Thursday.

The civil investigative demand seeks information about Media

Matters' communications with other groups that evaluate

misinformation and hate speech in news and social media,

including a World Federation of Advertisers initiative called

Global Alliance for Responsible Media. X has ongoing lawsuits

against both organizations.

The probe, first reported by Reuters, marks an escalation in

U.S. government scrutiny of whether groups like Media Matters

helped advertisers coordinate to pull ad dollars from X after

Musk bought the social media site formerly known as Twitter in

2022.

The demand seeks all documents Media Matters, a Washington,

D.C.-based liberal advocacy group, has produced or received in

the X lawsuit related to advertiser boycotts.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, who was appointed by President

Donald Trump to run the agency, highlighted the potential for a

probe in December.

"We must prosecute any unlawful collusion between online

platforms, and confront advertiser boycotts which threaten

competition among those platforms," Ferguson said in a statement

on an unrelated case.

Media Matters President Angelo Carusone said on Thursday

that 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,"

he said.

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Republican

member Jim Jordan, accused the Global Alliance for Responsible

Media last year of coordinating an illegal group boycott. The

initiative was shut down in August.

A spokesperson for the FTC declined to comment.

World Federation of Advertisers did not immediately respond

to a request for comment.

An investigative demand is not proof of wrongdoing, and not

all investigations result in the FTC taking enforcement action.

Advertising spending on X is set to increase in 2025 for the

first time since Musk bought it in 2022, research firm Emarketer

said in March, but it remains below its pre-Musk level. The

Tesla CEO was a major donor to Trump's 2024

presidential campaign and runs his initiative to slash the

federal workforce.

Last year, X sued the World Federation of Advertisers and a

group of major brands in federal court in Texas, accusing them

of illegally conspiring to curtail ad spending.

The group has asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, contending

that advertisers chose other platforms based on their concerns

about X's commitment to brand safety.

Media Matters and X are battling each other in federal

courts in Texas and California.

X sued Media Matters in 2023, accusing the organization of

defaming it in an article that said ads for major brands had

appeared next to posts on X that touted far-right extremist

content.

Media Matters has denied the allegations, and sued X, accusing

it of abusive, costly and meritless lawsuits to punish the group

for its reporting on advertising on X after Musk purchased the

site.

The organization has said defending against X's claims has

cost it millions of dollars.