The Justice Department on Friday supported claims by a Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-founded anti-vaccine group against several news organizations, saying the outlets’ alleged suppression of competing viewpoints is a cognizable antitrust injury.
The DOJ’s statement of interest, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, urged the court to reject the defendants’ suggestion that the antitrust laws don’t play a part in protecting viewpoint competition in news markets.
“Controlling precedent shows that the Sherman Act protects all forms of competition, including competition in information quality,” the statement said.
Reuters, the Washington Post, and Associated Press are among the news organizations sued in 2023 by Children’s Health Defense, which accused them of colluding to exclude rival news publishers that compete with reporting on certain issues relating to Covid-19 and politics.
Children’s Health Defense claims the defendant news outlets violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act through the “Trusted News Initiative” that allegedly boycotted the plaintiffs as a group. Companies including
A separate suit brought by Children’s Health Defense challenged Meta’s decision to pull its Facebook posts. The Supreme Court last month declined to weigh in on the case after a lower court sided with Meta last year.
A spokesperson for Reuters said in a statement that it disputes any allegation that the news organization violated antitrust laws. “Reuters is, and always has been, committed to reporting news fairly and accurately in the public interest, including about the global COVID-19 pandemic,” the spokesperson said.
The Washington Post declined to comment. The Associated Press didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kennedy stepped down as chairman of the group in December 2024.
Children’s Health Defense is represented by Richman Law & Policy. Reuters is represented by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC. The Washington Post is represented by Williams & Connolly LLP. The Associated Press is represented by Ballard Spahr LLP.
The case is Children’s Health Def. v. WP Co., D.D.C., No. 1:23-cv-02735, statement of interest 7/11/25.
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