Newsmax Didn’t Like Its NewsGuard Rating, So The FTC Attacked NewsGuard, And Now NewsGuard Is Suing

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.techdirt.com/2026/02/20/newsmax-didnt-like-its-newsguard-rating-so-the-ftc-attacked-newsguard-and-now-newsguard-is-suing/

"Last May, Trump’s FTC launched an investigation of NewsGuard, ordering the company to hand over the names of all its clients, virtually every document and communication it has ever produced related to its news ratings, and all of its financial reports since the time of its founding, the company alleges. 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.

In a lawsuit filed Friday with the U.S. District Court in Washington, NewsGuard argues these moves are already affecting its business — ruling out a potentially lucrative client and scaring other customers away.

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.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/02/06/news-guard-ftc-censorship-lawsuit/

#USA #Trump #Censorship #FreedomOfExpression #NewsGuard #FTC #Authoritarianism

Media Ratings Site NewsGuard Sues Trump FTC, Claims Unconstitutional Effort “To Censor Speech”
#News #Politics #AndrewFerguson #ElectionLine #FederalTradeCommission #FTC #NewsGuard #Newsmax

https://deadline.com/2026/02/newsguard-trump-ftc-lawsuit-1236711308/

Fabrications used to be so much harder to create and easier to identify ...

Excerpt:
"What’s happening: Social media users are spreading AI-produced and otherwise manipulated images linking prominent politicians, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. NewsGuard has so far identified seven such images that collectively have garnered more than 21.2 million views on X alone.
..."

https://www.newsguardrealitycheck.com/p/these-shocking-images-were-not-in

#NewsGuard #EpsteinFiles

Does anyone have a contact at #NewsGuard that they could ping?

Cuz I sincerely think a list of AI-based disinfo sites should be publicly known and not #paywalled.

Culture IA : Fake news, les IA de moins en moins fiables ?, par Anthony Morel

https://vid.freedif.org/w/nUVwWgow6czaLYE6J9BjTs