On the same day, Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) filed a lawsuit against Media Matters, accusing the media watchdog group of defaming the platform, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened an investigation into the organization over “potential fraudulent activity.”
What Happened: On Monday, Musk took to X and shared the release by Paxton’s office, saying, “Fraud has both civil & criminal penalties.”
As per the release, the Texas attorney general was “extremely troubled” by the allegations Media Matters, an “anti-free speech organization,” manipulated data on X.com fraudulently.
“Under the Texas Business Organizations Code and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the OAG will vigorously enforce against nonprofits who commit fraudulent acts in or affecting the state of Texas,” the release stated.
For the uninitiated, on Friday, Media Matters published a report accusing X of placing ads of prominent brands like Apple, IBM, Xfinity (Comcast), and Oracle next to “content that touts Hitler and his Nazi Party.”
In response, Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino have vehemently opposed the accusations, although not everyone on the internet was satisfied with their statements.
On the other hand, many people have also spoken in favor of Musk and against Media Matters. One such person was Chris Pavlovski, the founder and CEO of Rumble, a 2013 startup that aimed to become an alternative to YouTube for independent content creators.
Pavlovski also accused Media Matters of “purposely” misrepresenting Rumble.
Why It’s Important: In September earlier this year, X CEO revealed that 90% of the top 100 advertisers were back on the platform while expressing her optimism about achieving profitability by 2024.
However, another report dismissed these claims, indicating that most of the world’s biggest advertisers have ceased spending on X.
Moreover, last month, it was reported that the value of X, purchased for a staggering $44 billion last year in October, has declined to less than half of its purchase price. The reason possibly being chaotic leadership and advertisers concerns about content-safety on the microblogging site.
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