Florida, other states issue warning to media companies following reported support of Hamas

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody joined 13 other state attorneys general in warning media outlets against supporting terrorist organizations following reports of certain journalists’ ties to Hamas.

The joint notice was sent as an individual letter each to the publisher of the New York Times, the CEO of the Associated Press, the CEO and editor-in-chef of CNN and the president of Reuters, according to a press release.

The letters reminded the outlets that providing “material support” to terrorist organizations is a crime, after reports of “troubling ties” that various media companies had with Hamas.

“Following the abhorrent Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, reports began to emerge of news organizations employing people embedded within Hamas and potentially with knowledge of the attack before it was carried out,” Moody said.

“I, along with 13 other attorneys general, are putting the media companies on notice: ensure that you are following federal and state law,” she added.

The letter read that if the outlet’s current hiring practices “led you to give material support to terrorists,” they must change these policies going forward.

“Otherwise, we must assume any future support of terrorist organizations by your stringers, correspondents, contractors, and similar employees is knowing behavior,” the letter said.

Along with Moody, the attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.

It cited a letter sent to Reuters by multiple national lawmakers.

“Those lawmakers ask several questions that should be answered, including whether Reuters had prior knowledge of the attack and whether the Reuters journalist had contact with Hamas or its agents before the attack,” the letter from the attorneys general said.