A network of Leftist, self-proclaimed “watchdogs,” supported by corporations and political interests aligned with the Biden Administration, have been largely unchecked in their efforts to censor, de-platform, and “misinformation-ize” Americans who dare to speak and share information counter to the Leftist agenda.
From “COVID” and the 2020 election, to George Floyd and Ukraine, this network — legitimized by the corrupt legacy media — has suppressed the free speech of millions of Americans, and even a sitting U.S. President.
Now, free speech advocates are fighting back.
Pushback Begins Against ‘Radical’ Media Matters
Elon Musk kicked off the counter-offensive by filing a lawsuit, on behalf of his social media platform X, against Media Matters for America (MMA). The suit alleges MMA of “intentional deception and a malicious campaign aimed at damaging the company’s reputation and revenue stream,” reported Legal Newsline.
Founded in 2004 by political activist David Brock, MMA is funded by prominent Leftist donors, including billionaire mega-donor George Soros.
X’s lawsuit says that MMA orchestrated a deliberate and deceptive effort to portray X as a hub of “white nationalist and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.”
That lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Fort Worth Division, was followed up with an investigation by Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-Texas) for potentially violating the Texas Business Organizations Code and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act as the legal basis for this inquiry.
In his letter announcing the investigation, Paxton wrote:
We are examining the issue closely 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.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) has now followed up with his own investigation into MMA.
Bailey said:
We have reason to believe Media Matters used fraud to solicit donations from Missourians in order to trick advertisers into pulling out of X, the last platform dedicated to free speech in America. 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. I’m fighting to ensure progressive tyrants masquerading as news outlets cannot manipulate the marketplace in order to wipe out free speech.
Guarding Against NewsGuard
Last week, conservative news sites The Daily Wire and The Federalist joined with Paxton and the New Civil Liberties Alliance in filing a lawsuit agains the U.S. Department of State.
That lawsuit, reported Legal Newsline:
Alleges that the State Department, through its Global Engagement Center (GEC), is unconstitutionally intervening in the American news media market, aiming to financially cripple disfavored press outlets through the funding of censorship technology and private censorship enterprises.
The lawsuit specifically implicates NewsGuard, yet another self-proclaimed “media watchdog” that rates the “trustworthiness” of news sites. Legal Newsline reports that NewsGuard has around 40,000 subscribers.
NewsGuard, which has come under fire for receiving funding from Big Pharma, was also sued by Consortium News in October.
In that lawsuit, Consortium…
Charges the Pentagon’s Cyber Command, an element of the Intelligence Community, with contracting with NewsGuard to identify, report and abridge the speech of American media organizations that dissent from U.S. official positions on foreign policy.
So, the counter-offensive has begun against MMA and NewsGuard.
But how about the third Leftist “watchdog” — “Check My Ads”?
Rumble Checks ‘Check My Ads’ with Federal Lawsuit
Free speech video platform Rumble has filed a lawsuit against another Leftist, so-called “watchdog” — Check My Ads.
Rumble sued Nandini Jammi and Claire Atkin, co-founders of Check My Ads, in federal court in Florida, alleging “intentional economic harm and false statements by the defendants,” reported the Florida Record.
The lawsuit, which references MMA, says:
[F]or years, they have engaged in their own hypocritical disinformation campaign to censor, silence, and cancel speech by spreading false, materially misleading, and defamatory statements and engaging in tortious conduct to convince advertisers to withdraw ad spends from platforms like Rumble that host content creators who espouse views contrary to Defendants’ hyper-partisan sensibilities. In the 2010s, their targets were Bill O’Reilly, Breitbart News, and Tucker Carlson. Today, their targets are Elon Musk, X, and Rumble.
So, where do we go from here?
The lawsuits will make their way through the courts, and the state investigations will follow their courses.
These efforts, however, are likely not to be the last, as the actions of a few free speech advocates are likely to embolden those who have remained silent for too long.
As Edmund Burke wrote…
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Good men have stepped forward.
Now is the time for others to join the fight.