Elon Musk’s X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and several of its member companies, accusing them of violating federal antitrust laws by orchestrating a boycott of advertising on the platform.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Texas, X alleges that the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and its GARM initiative, along with member companies including Unilever, CVS, Mars, and Orsted, conspired to withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue following Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the company in October 2022. The suit claims that GARM’s membership condition, which requires members to withhold advertising from platforms deemed “non-compliant with the brand safety standards,” triggered a massive advertiser boycott after Musk’s takeover.
According to the plaintiffs, GARM expressed concerns about X meeting its safety standards, leading to the alleged boycott. The lawsuit also cites a July report from the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee, which claims that GARM engaged in a “shadowy corporate coordination” to persuade advertisers to boycott the platform, allegedly in an effort to “deprive conservative media outlets and personalities.”
Breitbart News recently reported on GARM and the Judiciary Committee report:
The federal government is sending billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to four big global advertising agencies, which include some of the leading architects of online censorship, according to a report by the Foundation for Freedom Online.
A congressional investigation recently uncovered overt political bias in the leadership of GARM, which is being used to control online speech and silence conservatives, the House Judiciary Committee said in a report released last month.
GARM co-founder Rob Rakowitz, for example, once complained in an email about people “advocating for freedom of speech online,” and about “extreme global interpretation of the US Constitution.” Rakowitz has also criticized the U.S. Constitution for being written “by white men exclusively.”
X CEO, Linda Yaccarino, expressed her shock at the alleged “systematic illegal boycott,” calling it “just wrong” and arguing that it threatens the platform’s ability to thrive in the future, putting it at long-term risk.
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) August 6, 2024
Since Musk’s acquisition of the company, he has faced challenges in maintaining advertiser relationships. Musk, who is the world’s richest person, closed the $44 billion deal in October 2022, with the intention of making the platform a global marketplace for free speech with limited controls. However, his actions, including changing the company’s name to X, reinstating controversial accounts, laying off thousands of employees, and sparking concerns over lax content moderation, led to a mass exodus of advertisers.
Despite efforts to reassure advertisers by stepping down as CEO and expanding ad features, Musk has blamed several media companies for the loss of advertising revenue. In September, he threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for allegedly pressuring companies against advertising on the platform. The ADL later resumed advertising on X in October. In November 2023, Musk sued left-wing watchdog Media Matters, accusing it of defaming X after several major advertisers, such as Apple, Disney, and IBM, pulled their advertising. X claimed that Media Matters created a “false impression” of how ads were displayed alongside antisemitic and inflammatory content.
Musk infamously lashed out at advertisers at the end of 2023. Speaking to companies he accused of blackmailing Twitter, Musk said, “Go fuck yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is.”
The case is X Corp. v. World Federation of Advertisers, No. 7:24-cv-00114-O, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
