Complaint Filed Against Accuracy in Media on Behalf of Austin Franco
On September 7, 2026, the Free Expression Foundation’s Glen Allen filed a civil complaint against Accuracy in Media (“AIM”) for multiple violations of the District of Columbia’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act (“CPPA”) on behalf of Cornell student Austin Franco. Mr. Franco entered the public eye when he politely declined to work with Jewish individuals at the tech startup VrfyID.
Amid the public firestorm over Mr. Franco’s stance, AIM sent a fraudulent letter to him purporting to be from an entirely separate non-profit called Justice in the Classroom. The letter offered a wide variety of services including legal representation and grants. In reality, the effort was a farce in order to gain access to Mr. Franco for the purposes of making a secret recording.
Mr. Allen sent a demand letter to AIM for five separate violations of D.C.’s CPPA. Following the elapsed deadline to respond, he filed suit in the District of Columbia’s Superior Court on September 7. AIM has 21 days to respond to the complaint after being served.
Read the full complaint here and please support FEF in this important lawsuit.
