Elon Musk is suing companies for not advertising on X. The tech giant, formerly known as Twitter, alleges the firms unlawfully conspired to boycott the site and caused it to lose “billions of dollars” in revenue. The lawsuit was filed in Texas against the World Federation of Advertisers and member companies British multinational Unilever, food giant Mars, CVS Health, and Danish renewable energy company Orsted.
Musk wrote on X: “We tried peace for two years, now it is war.”
It comes after advertising revenue at X slumped following Musk’s purchase and renaming of the social network for $44 billion (£35 billion) in 2022. Within days of taking over, Musk made thousands of employees redundant, including many moderation staff tasked with removing harmful content.
Companies halted advertising on the site in November 2023 amid concerns their content was appearing next to pro-Nazi posts, with X’s owner also accused of spreading hate speech. Musk later apologized for endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory but also told advertisers to “go f*** yourself.”
The software billionaire has come under increasing fire for his oversight of the website, which was recently held accountable for spreading false information during the English riots. According to the lawsuit, the advertisers conspired in a way that broke US antitrust laws while operating under the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) program of the World Federation of Advertisers.
GARM was founded in 2019 with the goal of assisting the sector in addressing the problem of illicit or hazardous content on digital media platforms and the monetization of that content through advertising. In addition to a court order prohibiting any further attempts to collude to withhold advertising spending, X is requesting undisclosed damages.
X argues it has applied brand-safety standards comparable to those of its competitors and that “meet or exceed” measures specified by GARM. The lawsuit marks a significant escalation in the ongoing tensions between Musk and the advertising industry, highlighting the challenges the platform faces under his leadership.
