X Files Lawsuit Against Advertising Group as Musk Declares Advertising 'War'
The social media platform X has initiated legal action against a major advertisers group, accusing them of orchestrating an unlawful boycott that impacts ad spending on the platform.
Key Highlights
- X has filed a lawsuit against the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), accusing the organization of coordinating an 'illegal' advertising boycott against the platform.
- The WFA’s Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) mandates members to avoid investing in platforms that fail to meet specific safety and content standards.
- Interestingly, just one month prior to the lawsuit, X expressed enthusiasm about renewing its partnership with the WFA media alliance.
Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter), sent a strong message to advertisers: “We tried peace for 2 years, now it is war.”
On Tuesday, Musk shared this statement alongside an announcement from X’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, revealing that the platform is suing several advertisers affiliated with the WFA global media alliance, including major corporations such as CVS Health, Unilever PLC, Mars, and Orsted.
The lawsuit claims that through the WFA’s GARM initiative, these advertisers conspired to collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue from X, based on compliance issues related to consumer safety standards.
Details of the Alleged Advertising Boycott
The complaint asserts that the involved companies agreed to abruptly and collectively boycott X by significantly reducing or completely halting their previous substantial advertising expenditures on the platform. The suit also references a July 10 report from the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, which accused the WFA of engaging in collusive behavior aimed at demonetizing content they disfavor.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, this lawsuit follows just one month after X announced the restoration of its relationship with GARM.
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