Posted on 05/29/2025 1:10:29 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Partisan targeting or legitimate antitrust inquiry?
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking documents from the left-leaning nonprofit Media Matters to determine whether the self-styled watchdog conspired with other organizations to orchestrate illegal advertiser boycotts of conservative news sites in violation of antitrust laws. In 2024, Elon Musk sued the company for allegedly costing his X platform billions of dollars in lost advertising revenue, leading some observers to criticize the current FTC inquiry as a Musk-inspired alliance.
The FTC seeks communications between Media Matters and the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) — a cross-industry initiative of the World Federation of Advertisers involving agencies, media companies, advertisers, and industry organizations — established in 2019 with the stated goal of combatting online disinformation. GARM used a “Steer Team” of four major advertisers (Procter & Gamble, Mars, Unilever, and Diageo), three trade associations, and GroupM (the world’s largest media buying agency) to “safeguard the potential of digital media by reducing the availability and monetization of harmful content online.” The company claims it “has enhanced transparency in ad placements on digital social media by providing voluntary and pro-competitive tools for the advertising industry.” Critics accuse it of election interference and disseminating its own misinformation.
Current media coverage highlights claims of lost profits for Musk and unlawful advertiser boycotts, but congressional inquiries into the roles these companies played suggest that speech manipulation related to vaccine information, political bias, the Hunter Biden laptop, and opposition to Musk’s acquisition of Twitter (now “X”) may be involved. Revelations that the Joe Biden administration improperly pressured social media companies to regulate content have included the Twitter platform prior to Musk’s purchase.
Media Matters, an overtly left-wing entity, seems to focus exclusively on criticizing conservative media outlets. Recent headlines include “STUDY: Interacting with these popular right-leaning comedy podcasters can turn...
(Excerpt) Read more at libertynation.com ...
Is David Brock dead yet?
It’ll be interesting to see if The Hill covers this and their slant on it.
Because The Hill may as well be Media Matters.
regulating?
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