Media Groups Probed by FTC Over Coordinating Boycott Claims

The US Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether more than a dozen media and advertising groups have illegally colluded to boycott online content alleged to be hateful, false or misleading, according to people familiar with the matter and a document seen by Bloomberg News.

The investigation partially relates to litigation between Elon Musk’s X and the liberal watchdog group Media Matters For America, but extends far beyond that dispute to include other trade groups, including Interactive Advertising Bureau, World Federation of Advertisers and the news rating company Ad Fontes Media Inc., according to the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.