Trump’s Social Media Platform ‘Truth Social’ Files Massive Defamation Lawsuit Against Twenty “Fake News” Media Outlets
The announcement comes as X, formerly known as Twitter, filed a lawsuit against left-wing Media Matters. The tide is turning.
By Jim Hᴏft
November 20, 2023
In a significant legal escalation, the Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of the social media platform Truth Social, has filed an unprecedented defamation lawsuit against twenty far-left media outlets. The lawsuit, announced on Monday, targets a series of reports that the company alleges falsely claimed it suffered tens of millions in losses.
The announcement comes as X filed a lawsuit against left-wing Media Matters. The tide is turning.
“Today Truth Social filed a defamation lawsuit that is likely unprecedented in history, incorporating twenty publications—and even more may be added. All of them published the same false information about Truth Social and refused to fully retract their stories. To the Fake News outlets that think themselves above accountability: we’ll see you in court,” the social media company announced on its platform.
The complaint alleges that these media organizations conducted a coordinated campaign to falsely report that Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. had lost $73 million. This figure is a complete fabrication and is not found in any public Securities and Exchange Commission filing by the company.
The complaint asserts that this was a deliberate effort to damage the reputation and financial standing of Trump Media & Technology Group, hinder its access to capital, and negatively impact its anticipated merger with Digital World Acquisition Corporation.
Below is the list of fake news media outlets named in the lawsuit filed by Truth Social:
Guardian News and Media LLC
Hollywood Reporter LLC
McClatchy Company LLC (doing business as Miami Herald)
Reuters News & Media Inc.
Rolling Stone LLC
Nexstar Media Inc. (doing business as The Hill)
Deadline Hollywood LLC
Accretive Capital LLC (doing business as Benzinga)
Marketwatch.com LLC
Forbes Media LLC
Axios Media Inc.
The Daily Beast Company LLC
G/O Media Inc. (doing business as Gizmodo)
Salon.com LLC
New York Daily News
Newsweek
MSNBC Cable LLC
Mediaite LLC
DMG Media Ltd. (doing business as Daily Mail)
CNBC LLC
“The $73 million loss figure does not appear anywhere in the DWAC S–4 filing, and the Defendants knew that it did not—or were at least reckless in their disregard for the truth—because each of them had access to the publicly-available S-4 that was the purported basis of their articles. Indeed, many defendants cited to and/or directly quoted from the filing,” according to the complaint.
“Another false statement made by 19 of the 20 Defendant (all except for Axios), was to claim that the SEC filing showed a loss of $50 million in 2022. No such loss is shown in the DWAC S-4.”
“As a result of these widespread lies, TMTG has suffered actual damages. Committed and potential investors have reacted negatively to the false news of TMTG supposedly losing $73 million, and TMTG’s ability to raise additional capital has been impaired.”
“Defendants are ostensibly in the business of publishing factual information. However, their business models revolve around generating clicks, and driving views to their websites. In this case, Defendants used the occurrence of a news event—the filing of DWAC’s S-4 with the SEC, a significant milestone in TMTG’s proposed merger with DWAC—as a pretext to intentionally or recklessly report the fabricated $73 million loss figure and sensationalize the news with anti-Trump, click- bait articles.”
“The incredible circumstances of all 20 Defendants publishing nearly identical articles, within hours of one another, using the same fabricated figures that appear nowhere in the S-4 filing upon which they ostensibly rely, would seem nearly miraculous were it a coincidence. Instead, this chorus of falsehood evinces a deliberate, malicious, and coordinated attack on TMTG and Truth Social,” the company said in the complaint.
You can read the full complaint here.
In May, The Gateway Pundit reported that Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) took legal action against The Washington Post, filing a defamation lawsuit seeking a staggering $3.78 billion in damages.
The case was filed in Sarasota County, Florida, which alleges that far-left WaPo published false and defamatory statements about the Truth Social platform, its CEO, Devin Nunes, and former President Trump, damaging its reputation and causing significant financial harm.
“WaPo has been on a years-long crusade against TMTG characterized by the concealment of relevant information in its possession—a bitterly ironic truth for a publication whose motto is “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” the suit said.
“WaPo’s latest defamation creates an existential threat for TMTG, causing enormous loss. TMTG brings this case to recover special damages to its business and good will, actual injury to its name and reputation, and punitive damages for WaPo’s gross misconduct.”
The lawsuit was filed against the Post, stating it “published an egregious hit piece that falsely accused TMTG of securities fraud and other wrongdoing.”
The lawsuit centers around an article released by The Washington Post, which reportedly obtained information from Will Wilkerson, a former employee of TMTG, who was also the source of the Guardian’s false and defamatory “money laundering” story.
Trump Media and Technology Group alleges that the article contained inaccuracies and malicious intent to harm the company’s interests.