Missouri Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey said Sunday that he was looking into accusations that leftist outlet Media Matters for America intentionally misled readers about X to pressure advertisers to pull support from the social media platform.
Bailey’s statement came after X owner Elon Musk said on Saturday that he would file a lawsuit against Media Matters over a report it ran last week that claimed X was placing ads for major corporations alongside Nazi-related content. As a result of the report, major corporations like Apple and IBM announced they would be pulling advertising from X. Musk said the report was misleading and intended to undermine X’s commitment to free speech.
Musk said that Media Matters had created a “contrived” experience by using an alternate account to curate what posts appeared on the timeline. “Once they curated their feed, they repeatedly refreshed their timelines to find a rare instance of ads serving next to the content they chose to follow,” Musk said.
Bailey said his team was “looking into this matter” in response to a post from Musk commenting on former Trump advisor Stephen Miller’s allegation that what Media Matters did was a civil and criminal violation.
My team is looking into this matter.
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) November 19, 2023
“Great!,” Musk responded to Bailey.
The Daily Wire reached out to Bailey’s office for further clarification on his comments.
According to Musk, the Media Matters report misrepresented X’s advertising practices. He said X logs indicated that of the 5.5 billion ad impressions on the day Media Matters pulled its research, less than 50 were served alongside the content highlighted by the leftist organization.
For one “brand showcased in the article, two of its ads served adjacent to 2 posts, 3 times, and that ad was only seen in that setting by one user, the author of the Media Matters article,” Musk said.
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Corporations quickly responded to the Media Matters report. Warner Bros. Discovery, Comcast/NBCUniversal, Lionsgate, and Paramount Global announced they were pausing ads on the social media platform. Musk has faced accusations of anti-Semitism and allowing Nazi-themed posts on X.
On Sunday, Musk responded to the allegations.
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“This past week, there were hundreds of bogus media stories claiming that I am antisemitic. Nothing could be further from the truth. I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all,” Musk said on Sunday.