The progressive media watchdog group Media Matters for America filed a lawsuit in federal court on Monday against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, alleging he violated the First Amendment by launching an investigation into the organization over its investigation into the Elon Musk-owned social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The investigation came on the heels of a report published by Media Matters which revealed major brands’ advertisements running next to white nationalist content on X. In the days that followed, a number of major advertisers cut ties with the platform, including Disney, IBM, Warner Bros., Sony, Apple, and Fox Sports.
The organization immediately came under fire from the platform’s billionaire owner, who promised to—and later did—file a “thermonuclear” lawsuit, which Musk suggested was only the “first of many.”
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Just hours earlier, he called the progressive media watchdog “pure evil” for its reporting on X.
Paxton jumped into action days later with his own investigation, which he couched in the same culture-war language employed by Musk against Media Matters.
The right-wing firebrand, who survived a contentious impeachment drive earlier this year following allegations of public corruption, said he launched the probe to “ensure that the public has not been deceived by the schemes of radical left-wing organizations who would like nothing more than to limit freedom by reducing participation in the public square.”
Now, Media Matters is suing him back, arguing that Paxton is trying to punish it for its reporting. Their lawsuit, provided to The Daily Beast, alleges that Paxton is subjecting the company to “a baseless and arbitrary government investigation in a state to which they have no relevant connection” and that he is “demanding the right to rifle through their most sensitive journalistic and organizational documents.”
The organization is alleging that Paxton’s probe is an attack on the First Amendment and has prevented the news company from publishing more articles on X and Musk for fear of further retaliation. “The chill imposed by his retaliatory scheme injures Plaintiffs’ ability to investigate and publish news stories and further chills their ability to participate in a robust public discussion around political extremism on the X platform,” the lawsuit states.
Media Matters also said in its lawsuit that Paxton offered no explanation of how the company “violated Texas’s trade practices law, or even what possible jurisdiction he had over them” adding that his press released showed “no meaningful analysis of these issues at all.”
The lawsuit asks for a permanent block on Paxton’s investigation and was filed in Maryland where Eric Hananoki, the reporter who wrote the stories in question, is based out of.
