With Elon Musk at the helm, X (formerly Twitter) has remained far from perfect but has been generally more tolerant of free speech than Twitter was under previous management. Predictably, that has made those who advocate for censorship, particularly of so-called “hate speech,” berserk, with Media Matters being one such example of a group infuriated by X’s policies.
So, Media Matters apparently encouraged advertisers to stop running their ads on X because those ads were sometimes appearing in proximity to posts containing “hate speech.” Elon then fired back at Media Matters in a statement and lawsuit, alleging that it had manipulated advertisers.
Announcing the suit in a post on X, Musk said, “The split second court opens on Monday, X Corp will be filing a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company.”
The press release Mr. Musk shared argued, “Above everything, including profit, X works to protect the public’s right to free speech. But for speech to be truly free, we must also have the freedom to see or hear things that some people may consider objectionable. We believe that everyone has the right to make up their own minds about what to read, watch, or listen to – because that’s the power of freedom of speech.”
Continuing, it added, “Despite our clear and consistent position, X has seen a number of attacks from activist groups like Media Matters and legacy media outlets who seek to undermine freedom of expression on our platform because they perceive it as a threat to their ideological narrative and those of their financial supporters. These groups try to use their influence to attack our revenue streams by deceiving advertisers on X.”
But Mr. Musk wasn’t the only one who announced that he would be pushing back on Media Matters and attempts to censor speech online by encouraging advertisers to withdraw over concerns about “hate speech” or other controversial speech.
Texas AG Ken Paxton did so as well, announcing an investigation into Media Matters. AG Paxton’s office said, “The Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) is opening an investigation into Media Matters for potential fraudulent activity. Under the Texas Business Organizations Code and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the OAG will vigorously enforce against nonprofits who commit fraudulent acts in or affecting the state of Texas. Attorney General Paxton was extremely troubled by the allegations that Media Matters, a radical anti-free speech organization, fraudulently manipulated data on X.com (formerly known as Twitter).”
AG Paxton was quoted in the press statement as saying, “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.”
Media Matters president Angelo Carusone dismissed Musk’s suit in a statement, saying, “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.”
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