Washington Post, BBC, AP, and Reuters Sued in Amarillo

Amarillo Federal Building/Courthouse | Photo by Noah Dawson

A lawsuit against The Washington Post, The British Broadcasting Corporation, The Associated Press, and Reuters was filed in Amarillo earlier this month, alleging violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act. 

According to the filing, the named defendants, along with “behemoth Internet companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter” formed a partnership called the “Trusted News Initiative.” The lawsuit alleges that the partnership constitutes a “group boycott” in violation of antitrust law.

The lawsuit further alleges that the members of the partnership suppressed various information related to COVID-19 and Hunter Biden’s laptop.

Ryan P. Brown of Amarillo and John W. Howard and Scott J. Street of San Diego are listed as the attorneys for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

In an interview with The Amarillo Pioneer, Brown stated that antitrust laws “protect people from corporations combining to decide what the truth is, restrict freedom of the press, and stragle out competition.”

The lawsuit lists Children's Health Defense, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Trialsite, Inc., Creative Destruction Media, LLC, Erin Elizibeth Finn, Jim Hoft, Dr. Ben Tapper, Ben Swann, Dr. Joseph Mercola, Ty Bollinger, and Charlene Bollinger as plaintiffs.

The Amarillo Pioneer reached out to each of the named defendants for comment but did not receive a response.