Elon Musk's social media platform, X, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against a global advertising alliance and several major companies, including Mars and CVS Health, accusing them of unlawfully conspiring to boycott the site and causing significant revenue loss. The lawsuit alleges that advertisers, through a World Federation of Advertisers initiative known as Global Alliance for Responsible Media, collectively withheld 'billions of dollars in advertising revenue' from X, formerly known as Twitter. X filed the lawsuit in federal court in Texas against the World Federation of Advertisers, Unilever, Danish renewable energy company Orsted, as well as Mars and CVS Health. The complaint states that these companies acted against their own economic interests in a conspiracy that violated U.S. antitrust law. The World Advertising Federation, Unilever, Mars, CVS Health, and Orsted have not yet responded to requests for comment.
In a statement regarding the lawsuit, X's CEO Linda Yaccarino emphasized that 'people are hurt when the marketplace of ideas is constricted. No small group of people should monopolize what gets monetized.' Ad revenue at X has been declining for months since Musk acquired the company in 2022, with brands expressing concern over the rapid changes under Musk's leadership. The advertising group initiated the responsible media initiative in 2019 to address the issue of illegal or harmful content on digital media platforms and its monetization through advertising. X contends in its lawsuit that it has implemented brand-safety standards comparable to those of its competitors and that these standards 'meet or exceed' those specified by the Global Alliance for Responsible Media. The lawsuit claims that X has become a 'less effective competitor' in the digital advertising market and is seeking unspecified damages and a court order to prevent any further efforts to conspire against the platform.
