Overview

• The Justice Department on July 11 filed a statement of interest in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Children’s Health Defense et al. v. Washington Post et al.
• The lawsuit accuses the Washington Post, BBC, Associated Press and Reuters of leveraging the Trusted News Initiative to coordinate with digital platforms in suppressing rival COVID-19 reporting.
• In its filing, the Antitrust Division argues that U.S. competition law extends beyond price effects to safeguard diversity of viewpoints in news markets.
• Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater warned that abusing market power to deplatform independent outlets threatens competition and the free flow of information.
• The original suit was launched in May 2023 by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Children’s Health Defense, Gateway Pundit founder Jim Hoft and other independent publishers.