FTC demands records from NewsGuard about its media ratings

The Federal Trade Commission issued a sweeping legal order on May 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C., for documentation from NewsGuard, an outlet that uses journalistic methods to generate reliability ratings of media outlets.

NewsGuard has opposed the civil investigative demand, which functions like a subpoena, arguing to the FTC in a Jan. 16, 2026, petition that the investigation constitutes retaliation against NewsGuard for exercising its protected First Amendment rights.

“The CID’s unconstitutionally broad and intrusive demands impermissibly chill NewsGuard’s speech,” the petition states.

The agency, under Chair Andrew Ferguson, ordered NewsGuard to produce extensive records related to its rating system, journalistic materials, methodologies and communications. It also asks for the identities of rated entities and employees dating back to 2018.

NewsGuard said the request effectively encompasses all of its work since its founding.

Despite objecting to the scope of the demand, NewsGuard said it has cooperated with the FTC, producing more than 41,000 pages of documents and participating in at least 10 work sessions designed to avoid court intervention, but FTC staff continued to seek additional materials.

NewsGuard’s petition outlines public criticism by Ferguson and other officials that culminated in the May 2025 demand. NewsGuard noted that a recent FTC consent order approving a merger between ad/marketing giants Omnicom and Interpublic Group effectively prohibited Omnicom from using NewsGuard’s services.

In November 2024, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr accused NewsGuard of being part of a “censorship cartel” in a letter to technology companies.

That same month, Ferguson wrote on X that NewsGuard “led collusive ad-boycotts — possibly in violation of our antitrust laws — to censor the speech of conservative and independent media in the United States.” In December, he said the FTC should launch an investigation into the company and claimed it “seems to give a free pass” to major left-leaning outlets.

In its petition, NewsGuard disputed those claims, saying its ratings are based on transparent, apolitical criteria. The organization has reported on foreign propaganda campaigns and misinformation, while also facing criticism and litigation from outlets across the political spectrum over low ratings, according to the petition.

“NewsGuard’s guiding principle has been that no government entity should be in the business of deciding what news people consume,” the document states.