Elon Musk’s X has added more major advertisers to its lawsuit, accusing them of conspiring to boycott the platform. In a revised complaint filed in Texas on Saturday, X named Nestlé, Abbott Laboratories, Colgate, Lego, Pinterest, Tyson Foods, and Shell as new defendants.
Originally filed in August, the lawsuit alleges that members of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) worked together to withhold billions in advertising revenue after Musk’s takeover of Twitter. Other defendants in the case include the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), CVS Health, Mars, Ørsted, and Twitch.
X Accuses GARM of Organizing a Boycott
X claims that the WFA used GARM to pressure advertisers into cutting ties with Twitter. The lawsuit argues that this effort aimed to force Twitter to comply with GARM’s brand safety standards.
Founded in 2019, GARM developed voluntary guidelines for classifying harmful content such as hate speech, misinformation, and online piracy. Many advertisers adopted these standards, using them to decide where their ads should appear. X itself was previously a member of GARM.
Following X’s initial lawsuit, GARM ceased operations, citing a lack of resources to fight legal battles. X’s complaint alleges that GARM’s actions deliberately weakened Twitter’s advertising business and its ability to compete with other social media platforms.
X Seeks Damages for Alleged Antitrust Violations
The lawsuit states that at least 18 GARM members stopped advertising on X between November and December 2022. This period followed Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the company in October 2022.
X argues that the advertiser boycott harmed its ability to compete for digital ad revenue and user engagement. Many companies pulled ads after Twitter reinstated controversial accounts and cut sales and safety teams.
The company seeks triple compensatory damages and injunctive relief for what it describes as violations of US antitrust laws. Meanwhile, the WFA, Diageo, and ad giant WPP face a similar lawsuit from Rumble, which accuses them of restricting advertising across multiple platforms.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan is also investigating whether advertisers’ participation in GARM led to conservative media being demonetized. The legal battle continues to intensify, with major implications for advertising practices on social media platforms.
