(Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
EXCLUSIVE—Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is opening an investigation into Media Matters for “potential fraudulent exercise” after X CEO Elon Musk accused the left-wing media watchdog group of manipulating data on the social media platform.
After a slew of advertisers, including IBM, Apple, Disney, Lionsgate and Paramount, fled X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk pledged to hit the watchdog group with a “thermonuclear lawsuit.”
Media Matters published a report on Friday accusing X of placing ads next to “white nationalist hashtags.” However, Musk believes that the group “utterly misrepresented the true consumer expertise” in order to mislead advertisers.
MUSK THREATENS ‘THERMONUCLEAR LAWSUIT’ AGAINST MEDIA MATTERS
Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey posted on Sunday that his legal team was “wanting into” the matter. Now, Paxton is launching an official investigation with his office after being “extraordinarily troubled” by the allegations.
FILE – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton makes a statement at his office, May 26, 2023, in Austin, Texas. The Texas Senate is set to gavel in Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023, for the impeachment trial of state Attorney General Ken Paxton, a formal airing of corruption allegations that could lead Republican lawmakers to oust one of their own as lead lawyer for America’s largest red state. ((AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
“We are analyzing the problem intently to make sure that the general public has not been deceived by the schemes of radical left-wing organizations who would really like nothing greater than to restrict freedom by decreasing participation within the public sq.,” said Paxton.
“Under the Texas Business Organizations Code and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the OAG will vigorously implement towards nonprofits who commit fraudulent acts in or affecting the state of Texas,” said the Texas Attorney General’s office.
MUSK RESPONDS TO ACCUSATIONS OF ANTISEMITISM: ‘NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH’
Elon Musk, billionaire and chief executive officer of Tesla, at the Viva Tech fair in Paris, France, on Friday, June 16, 2023. (Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Last week, Musk found himself in hot water after commenting on a post on X that critics believe was anti-Semitic. Since then, the tech billionaire has clarified that anyone posting genocidal content will be suspended from X.
“At danger of stating the plain, anybody advocating the genocide of *any* group might be suspended from this platform,” Musk wrote in a post on X.
“As I stated earlier this week, ‘decolonization’, ‘from the river to the sea’ and related euphemisms essentially suggest genocide. Clear requires excessive violence are towards our phrases of service and can end in suspension,” Musk wrote.
Nonetheless, the White House spokesman Andrew Bates condemned Musk, saying that the people’s house condemns “abhorrent promotion of Antisemitic and racist hate within the strongest phrases, which runs towards our core values as Americans.”
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This is not the first time advertisers vacated the social media platform. Last year, when Musk first took over Twitter, now known as X, he promised to restore free speech to the platform. In response, hundreds of advertisers pulled their ads.
Now, the CEO is hoping to uncover the truth behind the Media Matters report, saying “the invention and depositions might be wonderful to behold.”
Media Matters did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
