Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), has announced a lawsuit against several major advertisers, claiming that their illegal boycott has cost his company billions of dollars. X CEO Linda Yaccarino disclosed the legal action after a House Judiciary Committee report exposed the activities of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and its subsidiary, the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM).
The report, titled “GARM’s Harm,” details how the WFA, which oversees 90% of global marketing spending, orchestrated a boycott against X. This influential group represents some of the largest companies worldwide, including Disney and Coca-Cola. The boycott has reportedly caused significant financial damage to X, prompting the company to take legal action.
In a post on X, Yaccarino expressed her disbelief at the report’s findings, stating, “I thought I had seen everything.” She emphasized that the illegal behavior of these organizations and their executives has had a severe impact on X’s revenue. “The illegal behavior of these organizations and their executives cost X billions of dollars,” she reiterated.
Musk shared Yaccarino’s post with a stark message: “We tried peace for 2 years, now it is war.” This declaration signals Musk’s readiness to combat the alleged boycott aggressively.
The lawsuit targets CVS Health, Mars, Orsted, Unilever, GARM, and the WFA. According to the House report, GARM and its members coordinated boycotts and used other tactics to limit the reach and monetization of disfavored platforms and content creators.
BlazeTV’s James Poulos commented on the escalating conflict, suggesting that advertisers act as a cartel to control online discourse. “Rather than mild-mannered normies afraid of controversial content on X, advertisers operate as a cartel of far-left propagandists, reaping profits from taxpayers on government contracts while conspiring to silence free speech at odds with their radical ideologies,” Poulos said.
The report also uncovered internal emails from GARM head Robert Rakowitz, allegedly boasting about X’s significant revenue shortfall since the boycott began. Rakowitz later dismissed the email as a “self-effacing joke.”
As the lawsuit unfolds, it underscores the ongoing battle between tech platforms and the advertising industry, with potential implications for the regulation of corporate influence in the digital space.
