A media ratings website is suing the Federal Trade Commission for investigating alleged efforts to blacklist conservative news outlets, in a clash that is effectively dueling accusations of censorship.

NewsGuard Techonologies sued the FTC in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday, alleging the Trump administration was trying to censor it, “simply out of disagreement with NewsGuard’s First Amendment-protected journalistic judgments about the reliability of news sources.”

“Under the guise of a supposed antitrust investigation, the FTC has demanded all documents (memos, emails, texts, reporters’ notes, subscriber lists, analyses, financial reports, and more) that NewsGuard has created or received since its founding in 2018,” the complaint says.

The FTC did not immediately respond to The Daily Signal inquiry for this story.   

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson has accused NewsGuard, which purports to rate the accuracy of news organizations, of being biased and seeking to censor conservative outlets.

The commission opened the investigation in May of what it said was a potentially illegal advertising boycott against conservative outlets. 

“The FTC has pursued its campaign because Chairman Ferguson does not like NewsGuard’s news ratings which he views as biased against conservative publications,” the federal complaint adds, alleging the commission is seeking “to impose their view of speech nirvana.”

“That is wrong – NewsGuard’s ratings and journalism about news sources are non-partisan and based on fully disclosed journalistic criteria. But the FTC’s actions are plainly unconstitutional even if that were not the case.”

The commission’s probe partially picked up on an investigation started by Congress. 

In June 2024, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee raised questions about NewsGuard’s federal contracts, and possible actions to censor information.

The committee also sought information about potential conflicts of interest about how investors might influence the media ratings. 

“One concerned journalist expressed fear that NewsGuard’s activities are an extension of federal efforts—since struck down by courts—to coerce social media companies and to ‘destroy the financial survival of disfavored outlets,’” House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. wrote in his 2024 letter to the co-CEOs of NewsGuard, Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz.

In a statement Friday about the lawsuit, Brill and Crovitz said the organization was not biased. 

“NewsGuard has always operated as an apolitical news organization that provides consumers and businesses with information about the reliability of online news sources,” the two CEOs said.

“We believe news consumers, companies, and advertisers should have access to this kind of apolitical journalism so that they can make their own informed decisions about which news to rely on or promote.”

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