>Judge: Missouri AG's actions chill speech about extremist content on Musk's Twitter https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/08/missouri-ags-legal-war-against-media-matters-shot-down-by-federal-judge/A federal judge ordered Missouri's attorney general to halt an investigation into Media Matters for America, a nonprofit journalism organization that earned Elon Musk's wrath when it published an article showing that Musk's Twitter platform placed advertisements next to pro-Nazi posts.In March, Missouri AG Andrew Bailey issued an investigative demand seeking names and addresses of all Media Matters donors who live in Missouri and a range of internal communications and documents regarding the group's research on Musk and Twitter. Bailey also filed a lawsuit asking Cole County Circuit Court for an order to enforce the investigative demand.Media Matters countered by suing Bailey in US District Court for the District of Columbia. Last week, US District Judge Amit Mehta granted a preliminary injunction that prohibits Bailey from enforcing the civil investigative demand and from pursuing the related lawsuit.Mehta had issued a similar order against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton a few months earlier. Mehta filed a memorandum opinion on August 23 describing the reasons for granting Media Matters' request for an injunction against Bailey.Media Matters demonstrated a likelihood of success in its claim that Bailey took retaliatory actions designed to deter speech, Mehta wrote:>The court already has held that Defendant Paxton's announcement of an investigation and issuance of a CID [Civil Investigative Demand] demanding records relating to Media Matters' organization, funding, and journalism would sufficiently deter a news organization or journalist "of ordinary firmness" from speaking again about Twitter-related matters. Defendant Bailey has gone one step further.
>He has filed suit not only to enforce the Missouri CID, but he has asked a state court to sanction Media Matters with a civil penalty. Such action chills speech.>Twitter did not deny basic premise of articleMedia Matters has also "likely shown that their reporting was not defamatory and therefore was protected speech," Mehta wrote. In its public response to the November 2023 Media Matters article, "Twitter did not deny that advertising in fact had appeared next to the extremist posts on the day in question," Mehta wrote. He continued:>Twitter stated that it had served "less than 50 total ad impressions" next to the "organic content featured in the Media Matters article" (a mere fraction of the 5.5 billion ad impressions served that day), and it conceded that [Media Matters reporter Eric] Hananoki and one other person had seen advertisements of two of the brands identified in the article next to the extremist content. Twitter called these "contrived experiences," but did not deny the basic premise of the article: that Twitter s platform was delivering ads of major brands next to extremist content. Many other media outlets, as recently as April 2024, have published similar findings. These other stories corroborate Hananoki's reporting and Plaintiffs' belief in its accuracy.Mehta's ruling said that Bailey made it clear that "the true purpose of his investigation" was political. "Revealingly, Defendant Bailey expressly tied the investigation to the upcoming election" during an online interview with Donald Trump Jr., Mehta wrote."This is absolutely a new front in the fight for the war for free speech. This investigation is really critical and again especially as we move into an election cycle in 2024," Bailey said during the interview.
Bailey's lawsuit in Cole County Circuit Court claimed that "Media Matters has used fraud to solicit donations from Missourians in order to trick advertisers into removing their advertisements from Twitter, one of the last platforms dedicated to free speech in America." Bailey hasn't provided good evidence for this claim, Mehta wrote.Missouri Assistant Attorney General Steven Reed "never identifies what suspected fraudulent statements or omissions Media Matters made to Missourians for the purpose of soliciting donations," Mehta wrote. "If he means to say that Media Matters' defamatory reporting itself is the fraud, he nowhere links that content to Media Matters' fundraising efforts. He does not claim, for example, that Media Matters used its reporting on Twitter to solicit donations. In fact, the webpage on which the November 16 Article appeared made no express fundraising appeal. Nor did it include a donation link. Defamation is not fraud. It is thus likely that the false reporting-as-fraudulent fundraising justification for the investigation is pretext for retaliation."Bailey can appeal Mehta's order. If the order stands, the preliminary injunction would stay in force until a final judgment in Media Matters' case against Bailey.Media Matters CEO Angelo Carusone called the ruling "a victory for free speech and a warning to other AGs and like-minded bad actors that the constitution does not allow for this type of meritless, retaliatory, harassing effort to suppress free speech.""A federal judge has clearly seen this coordinated effort by state attorneys general for what it is—sucking up to Elon Musk and abusing the power of their offices to intimidate researchers and stifle accurate reporting by Musk's critics. Andrew Bailey was one of those AGs that took up the call and he was defeated," Carusone said.
I guess it's only okay when they censor on behalf of leftist governments.
>>1335082Other way around, Musk is already censoring the political rivals of right wing regimes in other parts of the world. https://theintercept.com/2023/03/28/twitter-modi-india-punjab-amritpal-singh/
>>1335082If Musk wants to censor people, he's welcome to do it on the website he owns. If he wants to censor people using state governments, he's welcome to fuck off and die.
>>1335082good post >>1335084>>1335086>twitter silencing right wing voices = good>twitter censoring communist propaganda = bad
>>1335093Are you implying Musk is silencing right wing voices or did you just not read what I posted?
>>1335100This assumes /pol/ppets actually read what they're ordered to attack.That's bold of you.
>>1335075>>1334412And so the exposing of Musk's hypocrisy begins.Pavel Durov. What's happened to him. What's already happened to Andrew Taint. The persecution of those who think they have the right to think they're above those who represent Rule Of Law will continue until opinions improve.Persecution of Telegram's boss. Persecution of a subhuman human trafficker, porn producer, rapist and pedo. That which is smaller than the richest company on the planet that was forced to obey the EU.Frankly, it would be better for you to sell Xitter thus it goes back to being Twitter with draconian TOS rules, thus no wrong opinions allowed. And you're humiliated, Muskrat.Go back to selling electric cars Elon, because thinking you have the right to have ideas above your station will run over you like one of your malfunctioning Cybertrucks. When no less than Apple have to say 'How High?' when Brussels says 'Jump', ergo...!
>>1335102>This assumes /pol/ppets actually read what they're ordered to attack/pol/ppets think they can read: >>1334902Until what they don't read destroys their own retarded opinions: >>1335044. Thus in Soviet America, quoted mine collapses on you. Their own opinions attack them. They just don't read.
Just so it's clear.Elon Musk recruited Republican Attorney Generals to open hostile investigations into and try and shut down a nonprofit journalism organization who just exposed how ads on twitter were being shown next to White Supremacists content. So Elon Musk used the government to attack the free press. There's hypocrisy, and then there's the next level of that in what Elon Musk pulled.
damn you mofos are really going hard. just keep spamming lies and they have to believe! lol. Good luck with that
>>1335075If media matters is properly registered as a PAC, then all is fine (and they're still able to be sued for libel.)If they're not registered as a PAC, they need to be.
>>1335138where's the lie?
>>1335144>journalists should register as a PACWhy?
>>1335120>nonprofit journalism organizationIt is a political advertising organization like the heritage foundation.Media matters isn't a think tank because they don't do policy thinking, they just advertise stuff from the DNC and DNC think tanks.
>>1335146Yes. Furthermore "being a journalist" is actually meaningless and has no requirements and provides no legal loopholes.
>>1335155Media Matters for America is a media watchdog group. They call out right-wing media for the lies they propagate.
>>1335165The vast majority of Media Matters' content is just reposts of Fox News (and other right-wing media outlets like The Daily Wire) segments, with annotations pointing out the right-wing lies
>>1335172>Daily Beast>segmentsDaily Beast doesn't even broadcast or really do much video content at all. They are a like an online-only newspaper. You have no idea what you are even criticizing.
>>1335155I didn't know Media Matters was trying to turn America into a fascist state with Project 2025.Proof?
>>1335165Good postAccurate.It's Media Matters that is under criminal investigation here.
>>1335171Then they are both liars and fraudsters. I agree totally.Glad we agree on something
>>1335184>It's Media Matters that is under criminal investigation here.Judge just threw out the case and chastised the corrupt Republican AG for even bringing it to court. Free Speech wins against the fascist right and their corporate masters
https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-misinformation-x-twitter-elon-musk-4821523a795ba0dd04695c385c4b14d3And Elon's Trump shilling operation just took another L.
>>1335100>>1335102twitter used to be owned by a jewish communist before musk bought it. prior to musk they would silence right wing posts and push tranny propaganda, troon>>1335106crackhead bot is having a melty
>>1335165good post >>1335160also a good post
>>1335336>twitter used to be owned by a jewish communist before musk bought it. prior to musk they would silence right wing posts and push tranny propaganda, troonSo you just didn't read what I posted. Got it.
>>1335516/pol/ppets never read.
>/pol/ trying to slide this news that one of their masters is a free speech hypocrite
>>1335165Accurate
>>1335075AGAIN?!?!
>>1335921Senate democrats really need to investigate why Musk is conspiring with Republicans to attack the free press.
>>1335929>media matters>free press
>>1335943you really put the lying in implying
>>1335943>Watch dog group against the Republican biased pressYes, they're the free press
>>1335943This
>>1336028you posted it
