Elon Musk’s X platform escalates legal battle against major advertisers
By Abimbola Mohammed
Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has intensified its legal fight against major advertisers, adding several global brands to an existing lawsuit alleging an unlawful advertising boycott.
The amended complaint, filed in a Texas court, names Nestlé, Lego, Abbott Laboratories, Colgate-Palmolive, Pinterest, Tyson Foods, and Shell as defendants, in addition to the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and other previously named parties.
According to the filing, the WFA and its now-defunct Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative pressured members to withdraw advertising from X due to concerns about Musk’s content moderation approach. X claims that this coordinated action resulted in significant financial losses and damaged its competitiveness in the digital advertising market.
The lawsuit alleges that at least 18 GARM members ceased advertising on X between November and December 2022, in an attempt to coerce the platform into adhering to GARM’s brand safety standards. X argues that these standards were selectively enforced and that the boycott was anti-competitive.
GARM was established in 2019 to provide voluntary brand safety guidelines for advertisers, media owners, and agencies. However, in response to X’s lawsuit, GARM discontinued operations in 2024, citing the financial burden of defending itself.
The WFA has denied any wrongdoing, stating that it adheres to competition law and plans to contest the lawsuit. The case is ongoing, with X seeking damages and injunctive relief against the defendants.
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