Advocacy Groups Urge Judge to Block Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Merger Settlement

<p>Free speech and media advocacy groups have urged a judge to block a California settlement with Paramount Skydance that would allow the company to finalize its $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.</p><p>Twelve states, led by California, filed a lawsuit to block the deal in July, successfully delaying it when US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín ruled that the merger would likely reduce competition substantially and violate antitrust laws. Despite this initial ruling, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a settlement with Paramount earlier this week, which the other states involved in the lawsuit also agreed to.</p><p>Martínez-Olguín must decide whether to approve the settlement. A coalition of free speech and media advocacy groups submitted a filing to the judge, stating that the deal will provide residents of the states that sued Paramount with "virtually nothing." The filing was made by the Committee for the First Amendment, Free Press, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Future Film Coalition, and International Documentary Association.</p>