Media Matters Shutters X Account Amid Legal Dispute With Elon Musk: ‘It Sure Has Been Tough’

Media Matters for America, a progressive watchdog organization known for monitoring and fact-checking conservative claims in U.S. media, has confirmed its departure from X amid a legal dispute with the social media site.

The organization, which has been active on the platform for nearly two decades, shared the decision in a final upload on X Wednesday, where they cited the tech company’s new Terms of Service as a reason for their departure.

“X (formerly Twitter) is releasing new Terms of Service effective January 15, 2026,” the statement read. “Media Matters for America does not accept these new terms.”

The post continued: “You can still find us elsewhere: Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and of course, at mediamatters.org, where we are still full speed ahead calling out right-wing media misinformation.”

However, Media Matters Chairman and President Angelo Carusone expanded on the decision, highlighting that their legal dispute with X and its owner, Elon Musk, played a factor in the decision.

“X is currently suing @mmfa, myself and one of our reporters,” Carusone said in a Wednesday evening post on X. “This lawsuit is one piece of a larger legal assault, including Trump admin investigations, against Media Matters. We don’t talk about it much. Just press on. But, it sure has been tough. It’s also refined perspective.”

He added: “Starting January 15, X is updating its terms of service. These terms contain, among other things, new language that attempts to apply a provision to ‘pending’ lawsuits. An attempt to force a retroactive acceptance to something currently in dispute in my case. I don’t agree.”

As Carusone went on, he noted that he’s been a longtime user of the platform, sharing he joined back in 2009.

“Have learned much. Appreciate yous,” he concluded. “Please do find me on Bluesky or Threads or elsewhere (other usual suspects). Onward!”

Carusone further called out Musk in a statement to press, stating, “Some of the changes to X’s terms of service underscore Elon Musk’s ability and seeming willingness to change the rules of the platform to punish speech … There’s little reason to believe similar tactics wouldn’t be used again at crucial moments, like in the runup to elections. Having so much power to control the flow of information should concern everyone invested in democracy.”

Media Matters and X have been battling it out in court since 2023, when X first sued the watchdog org after the latter published a report that criticized Musk’s policies amid advertisers finding their content alongside hate speech. While X accused Media Matters of manipulating its algorithm in order to misrepresent “the real user experience,” Media Matters hit back and claimed that Musk was trying to silence his critics via the law.

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