A federal judge on Monday ordered Missouri’s attorney general to stand down on an investigation into Media Matters for America launched in the wake of a lawsuit filed against the progressive watchdog last year by X owner Elon Musk. In November, as advertisers fled his platform in droves, Musk accused the nonprofit of “knowingly and maliciously” concocting a report showing ads from companies like Apple, Oracle, and Amazon next to content produced by hate groups. Four months later, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued Media Matters a civil investigative demand, seeking communications and documents the group had produced on Musk and X, as well as personal information on its donors in his state. Bailey separately sued Media Matters, alleging in a complaint that it had “pursued an activist agenda in its attempt to destroy X, because they cannot control it.” U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta, an Obama appointee also known for presiding over the Google antitrust case, handed down a preliminary injunction prohibiting Bailey from pursuing either action. He wrote that Media Matters had “shown that their reporting was not defamatory and therefore was protected speech.” In a statement, Angelo Carusone, Media Matters’ president and CEO, called Mehta’s decision “a victory for free speech.”
