Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has filed a lawsuit against a group of major advertisers, accusing them of orchestrating a “massive advertiser boycott” that allegedly deprived the company of billions in revenue and violated antitrust laws. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in a federal court in Texas, targets the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and its members, including Unilever, Mars, CVS Health, and Orsted.
Following Musk’s$ 44 billion acquisition of Twitter in late 2022, the WFA’s brand safety initiative, the Global Alliance for Responsible Media ( GARM ), is claimed as a key component of coordinating a media pause. According to the lawsuit, Musk made significant adjustments to Twitter’s personnel and procedures as a result of this protest.
Musk, who took over Online after changing it to X, addressed the lawsuit on Tuesday, saying that” now it is war” and that he was frustrated with what he thought would have been two years of “getting nothing but empty terms.”
X CEO cites legislative information
Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, elaborated on the factors behind the petition in a movie news. She cited facts from a lawsuit involving the US House Judiciary Committee, which suggested a coordinated” organized illegal protest” had been carried out against X by the parties named in the lawsuit. A panel led by Republicans recently held a hearing to determine whether current legislation effectively stop online marketing competition.
Instead of a more recent influx of ad transactions that took place in November 2023, the lawsuit concentrates on the time following Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. In that time, advertisers started leaving X out of concern that their ads would appear next to anti-Nazi glad and anti-Muslim content. More companies pulled their ads as a result of Musk’s endorsement of an racist conspiracy theory.
In reply, Musk accused the fleeing promoters of “blackmail” and, in a filthy explosion, told them to keep.
Marketers defend their procedures
The Belgium-based WFA, along with CVS, Orsted, Mars, and Unilever, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. But, during last season’s congressional hearing, a major Unilever administrative defended the bank’s approach to advertising.
” Unilever, and Unilever only, controls our marketing spending”, said Herrish Patel, leader of Unilever USA, in determined evidence. No software deserves to receive our advertising dollars.
The lawsuit raises concerns about the legal framework for coordinated ad activities in the digital storage and the extremely conflicting relationship between Musk’s X and the marketing industry.
