NewsGuard Sues FTC to Stop Ratings Probe

NewsGuard Technologies, a company that rates the credibility of news outlets, has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Trade Commission and its chairman, Andrew Ferguson, seeking to halt an ongoing investigation into its operations. The suit, lodged last month in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, alleges that the probe exceeds the agency's authority and targets the company's speech based on its assessments of media reliability.

The dispute centers on the FTC's examination of whether NewsGuard's services contribute to advertiser boycotts that could violate antitrust laws. According to court documents, the agency issued a broad request for internal records, including emails, financial reports and subscriber lists dating back to the company's founding in 2018. NewsGuard contends that complying would be excessively burdensome and could expose its clients to retaliation. The FTC maintains that the investigation is part of a larger inquiry into potential anticompetitive practices in advertising, noting that it has sent similar information requests to more than a dozen other entities.

Founded by Steven Brill, creator of Court TV, and Gordon Crovitz, a former Wall Street...