Media Matters for America, a left-wing media organization, is facing significant financial strain due to lawsuits from the FTC and Elon Musk’s X platform, with legal fees exceeding $15 million. The organization has seen a reduction in staff and internal tensions as it fights these legal battles.
The New York Times reported that the group has scaled back its criticisms of Musk and the FTC, with some members suggesting the organization consider bankruptcy or back down to settle the lawsuits. President Angelo Carusone stated that the battle is larger than the group itself, and they continue to carry out their mission despite the challenges.
Musk and X filed a lawsuit against Media Matters, alleging that the media watchdog had defamed the social media platform. The lawsuit followed a report published by MMFA which claimed that ads from major brands – including IBM and Comcast – could be seen next to pro-Nazi posts on X. Musk’s initial lawsuit also led to probes by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, the NYT reported. MMFA sued, and the federal court ultimately blocked the investigation in Texas.
The FTC launched an inquiry into Media Matters in May about whether it had illegally colluded with advertisers in order to harm Musk’s social media platform. Media Matters sued to end the investigation, saying the FTC was leveraging ‘sweeping governmental powers to attempt to silence and harass an organization for daring to speak the truth,’ the NYT reported.
Stephen F. Mandel Jr., a hedge fund manager who is a major donor to Media Matters, according to the NYT, suggested in a meeting with those helping raise funds for the left-wing watchdog group that they should think about shutting down. However, Carusone had hinted to the NYT that they weren’t considering the option, and said the lawsuits were ‘a revenge campaign against Media Matters intended to stymie or stop us entirely from exercising our constitutional rights.’