A federal judge has restricted the Federal Trade Commission‘s investigation of Media Matters, the progressive watchdog group, finding that the agency was likely engaged in retaliatory conduct in violation of the First Amendment.
U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan wrote in a ruling Friday, “It should alarm all Americans when the Government retaliates against individuals or organizations for engaging in constitutionally protected public debate. And that alarm should ring even louder when the Government retaliates against those engaged in newsgathering and reporting.”
Read the Media Matters decision here.
The judge granted a preliminary injunction to halt the FTC‘s civil investigative demand, which the agency issued earlier this year as part of a probe of an advertising boycott of Elon Musk‘s X. Media Matters has been a target of Musk, members of the Trump administration and their allies after the group published a piece in 2023 on antisemitic posts on X that appeared next to advertisements from major brands. A number of companies pulled their advertisements from the platform, leading Musk to filed what he called a “thermonuclear lawsuit” against Media Matters.
That case is still pending. But Donald Trump’s choice to lead the FTC, Andrew Ferguson, in May sent a civil investigative demand letter to Media Matters, seeking information on its contacts with a World Federation of Advertisers initiative called Global Alliance for Responsible Media, as well as other groups.
The judge wrote, “There can be no doubt that such a [civil investigative demand] would deter a reporter of ordinary firmness from speaking again. Indeed, the FTC’s CID has had its intended effect. Because of the CID, Media Matters has decided against pursuing certain stories about the FTC, Chairman Ferguson, and Mr. Musk. Finally, given the comments by Chairman Ferguson and his colleagues about Media Matters, the timing of the CID, and evidence of pretext, Media Matters is likely to show that retaliatory animus was the but-for cause of the FTC’s CID.”
In the face of legal bills, Media Matters has struggled, laying off staff members last year. The New York Times reported last month that the organization also has considered closing up shop.
The judge wrote that Media Matters was likely to succeed on its First Amendment retaliation claim, finding that it “engaged in quintessential First Amendment activity when it” published the article on Musk. The judge cited some of Ferguson’s previous comments, including on Steve Bannon’s podcast, that “it is ‘really important that the FTC take investigative steps in the new administration under President Trump’ because ‘progressives’ and others who are ‘fighting disinformation’ were ‘not going to give up just because of the election.’”
A Media Matters spokesperson and an FTC official did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The FTC had argued that the district court lacked authority to hear the lawsuit, citing the Federal Trade Commission Act. But Sooknanan wrote that noting in the statute “suggests that Congress meant to declare open season on journalists by allowing a retaliatory FTC to decide if and when its retaliation will be reviewed by a federal court.”
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