X drops Unilever in advertising lawsuit
By Ralph Tathagata
X, formally known as Twitter, has dropped Unilever from a lawsuit that it claimed the consumer goods giant and others conspired with an advertising industry group to boycott the social media platform, causing it to lose huge ad revenue.
According to a Reuters report, in a filing in federal court in Wichita Falls, Texas, X said it was dismissing its claims against Unilever in the August antitrust lawsuit.
It would be recalled that X had in a lawsuit accused the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and its group members, including Unilever, candy maker Mars, CVS Health and Danish renewable energy company Orsted of conspiring to withhold “billions of dollars in advertising revenue”.
WFA and its advertising group members launched an initiative in 2019 to “help the industry address the challenge of illegal or harmful content on digital media platforms and its monetization via advertising.
Unilever – whose products include Dove soaps, Hellmann’s condiments and Pepsodent toothpaste – said in a statement it had reached an agreement with X. “X has committed to meeting our responsibility standards to ensure the safety and performance of our brands on the platform.”
However, Unilever did not comment on specific terms of the settlement.
In a statement, X said it had reached an agreement with Unilever. “We are pleased to continue our partnership with them on the platform.”
Also, X declined to comment on the terms of the agreement but said, “We are continuing to pursue our antitrust claims against the other defendants.”
The other defendants, including the World Federation of Advertisers, have yet to respond to the court or to requests for comment regarding the lawsuit.
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