FTC Targets an Ad Agency for Using a Fact-Checking Site That Rates Some Right-Wing Outfits as Unreliable

The one consistent enemy of the Trump administration is fact-checking. Donald Trump loves creating and spreading false reports, rumors, conspiracy theories, and misinformation—and he resents any independent source of information that can counter his wild claims. Now he is abusing his power to cut off support for a prominent and well-regarded anti-misinformation site.

The Washington Post reports:

Founded in 2018 by a pair of veteran media executives, NewsGuard researches news sites and assigns them “reliability ratings” based on their journalistic standards, selling these scores to readers, tech platforms, and advertisers that want to steer clear of low-quality sources. The company, which insists it is rigorously nonpartisan, has made enemies in recent years by giving low ratings to conservative outlets such as the right-wing cable news channels Newsmax and One America News.

Last May, Trump’s FTC launched an investigation of NewsGuard…. Then, before approving a $13 billion merger that created the world’s largest ad agency, the FTC included an order that effectively blocks the newly formed goliath from ever doing business with companies like NewsGuard. …

NewsGuard argues that the FTC embarked on a targeted regulatory campaign it likened to “the witch hunts of the McCarthy era,” violating its First and Fourth Amendment rights. While the FTC is tasked with enforcing fair business practices, NewsGuard’s lawsuit alleges that under Trump-appointed Chairman Andrew Ferguson, the agency is “brazenly using its power not for any issue concerning trade or commerce, but rather to censor speech.”

This is the fruit of Trump’s obsession with an alleged “unitary executive” in which officials in traditionally independent regulatory agencies now take orders from him personally—and carry out his vendettas against his political enemies.

The Executive Watch is a project of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism, and its flagship publication The UnPopulist, to track in an ongoing way the abuses of the power of the American presidency. It sorts these abuses into five categories: Personal Grift, Political Corruption, Presidential Retribution, Power Consolidation, and Policy Illegality. Click the category of interest to get an overview of all the abuses under it.

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