>Judge: Missouri AG's actions chill speech about extremist content on Musk's Twitter https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/08/missouri-ags-legal-war-against-media-matters-shot-down-by-federal-judge/A federal judge ordered Missouri's attorney general to halt an investigation into Media Matters for America, a nonprofit journalism organization that earned Elon Musk's wrath when it published an article showing that Musk's Twitter platform placed advertisements next to pro-Nazi posts.
In March, Missouri AG Andrew Bailey issued an investigative demand seeking names and addresses of all Media Matters donors who live in Missouri and a range of internal communications and documents regarding the group's research on Musk and Twitter. Bailey also filed a lawsuit asking Cole County Circuit Court for an order to enforce the investigative demand.
Media Matters countered by suing Bailey in US District Court for the District of Columbia. Last week, US District Judge Amit Mehta granted a preliminary injunction that prohibits Bailey from enforcing the civil investigative demand and from pursuing the related lawsuit.
Mehta had issued a similar order against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton a few months earlier. Mehta filed a memorandum opinion on August 23 describing the reasons for granting Media Matters' request for an injunction against Bailey.
Media Matters demonstrated a likelihood of success in its claim that Bailey took retaliatory actions designed to deter speech, Mehta wrote:
>The court already has held that Defendant Paxton's announcement of an investigation and issuance of a CID [Civil Investigative Demand] demanding records relating to Media Matters' organization, funding, and journalism would sufficiently deter a news organization or journalist "of ordinary firmness" from speaking again about Twitter-related matters. Defendant Bailey has gone one step further. 