JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri’s Republican attorney general appears poised to launch a lawsuit against a liberal advocacy group, arguing it manufactured a report to show advertisers’ social media posts alongside neo-Nazi and white nationalist posts.
Andrew Bailey, who is running for a full term as attorney general in 2024, sent a letter to Media Matters requesting records related to its strategies with X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.
“This letter serves as a formal document hold notice under federal and Missouri law. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office has opened an investigation into Media Matters for America regarding your firm’s potentially unlawful business practices,†the letter said.
The move wasn’t unexpected. Bailey weighed in on a dispute last month between X owner Elon Musk and Media Matters after the billionaire endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory.
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Bailey’s actions are similar to allegations laid out in a lawsuit filed by X, which alleges that Media Matters manipulated algorithms on the platform so the paid posts by advertisers were next to racist content.
Bailey said the organization may have violated Missouri laws by using fraud to solicit donations from Missourians.
“Radicals are attempting to kill Twitter because they cannot control it, and we are not going to let Missourians get ripped off in the process,†Bailey said in a news release. “I’m fighting to ensure progressive tyrants masquerading as news outlets cannot manipulate the marketplace in order to wipe out free speech.â€
Major companies, including IBM, NBCUniversal and its parent company Comcast, announced last month that they stopped advertising on X after the Media Matters report said their ads were appearing alongside material praising Nazis.
The report also pointed to ads from Apple and Oracle that were placed next to antisemitic material on X.
Bailey’s letter calls on Media Matters to preserve all records that relate to their involvement with X, including communications and documents related to fundraising in Missouri.
Media Matters has called the lawsuit by X “frivolous†and has said it stands by its work.
Bailey, who was appointed to the position by Gov. Mike Parson in January, is set to take on former U.S. attorney Will Scharf in the Republican primary election in August.