Elon Musk’s social media platform X is suing the Global Advertising Alliance and several major companies, including Unilever, Mars, and CVS Health. The lawsuit accuses them of illegally conspiring to boycott the social network and intentionally causing revenue loss.
In an open letter to advertisers, X Corp CEO Linda Yaccarino cited a House Judiciary Committee report that found evidence of illegal boycotts of many companies, including X. The report, titled “The Harm of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM),” states that “the evidence obtained by the Committee indicates that GARM and its members have attempted to directly organize boycotts and use other indirect tactics to devalue and effectively restrict certain consumer choices.”
“Simply put, the marketplace of ideas is corrupted, and people are harmed when some perspectives are not funded over others as part of an illegal boycott,” said Yaccariño, who joined X as CEO in June 2023.
“X has filed an antitrust lawsuit against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), and GARM members CVS Health, Mars, Orsted, and Unilever. This is not a decision we have taken lightly, but it is a direct result of their actions. The misconduct of these organizations and their executives has cost X billions of dollars.”
According to Yacarino, X meets and exceeds what advertisers and organizations like GARM have been asking for: new tools to improve advertiser control and effectiveness.
“I have worked in good faith with marketers around the world to bring innovation and address concerns for brands that have worked with us for decades. The unfortunate reality is that despite all our efforts, hundreds of meetings, and contrary research, many companies have chosen to ignore the facts. To those who have broken the law, we say enough is enough. We have a duty to seek justice for the harm done by these and potentially additional defendants as our legal proceedings unfold,” added the executive, who previously worked at Turner Entertainment and NBCUniversal.
X filed suit against the World Federation of Advertisers and the companies on August 6 in a Texas federal court. On Tuesday, Elon Musk shared Yaccariño’s open letter, adding a personal note: “We tried to make peace for two years, but now it’s war.”
But Musk’s efforts may not be paying off for Unilever, the British multinational fast-moving consumer goods company founded in 1929. Musk himself seemed unfazed when he addressed advertisers last year. “If someone is trying to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, back off. Back off. Is that clear? I hope so,” Musk told interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin.
