X owner Elon Musk on Tuesday declared “war” against companies allegedly avoiding advertising on his platform.
Executives with X have accused companies in the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), a unit of the World Federation of Advertisers, of carrying out an illegal boycott. X CEO Linda Yaccarino posted an open letter announcing a lawsuit against GARM members, to which Musk replied, “we tried peace for 2 years, now it is war.”
Yaccarino accused companies like CVS, Mars, Orsted and Unilever of costing X billions of dollars by trying to demonetize content creators and news organizations they don’t like. She cited a report by the House Judiciary Committee suggesting GARM illegally harmed consumers by limiting their feeds on X.
“To those who broke the law, we say enough is enough,” Yaccarino wrote in the letter. “We are compelled to seek justice for the harm that has been done by these and potentially additional defendants, depending what the legal process reveals.”
Some GARM members stopped advertising on the platform after Musk backed a user that claimed Jewish people had pushed “dialectical hatred” against White people. Musk at the time called it the “actual truth.”
Walmart, which is part of the alliance, said it pulled advertisements after finding other platforms better for reaching its customers. However, Yaccarino claims companies like the retailer were instead trying to hurt X users.
“The consequence – perhaps the intent – of this boycott was to seek to deprive X’s users, be they sports fans, gamers, journalists, activists, parents or political and corporate leaders, of the Global Town Square,” she wrote. “To put it simply, people are hurt when the marketplace of ideas is undermined and some viewpoints are not funded over others as part of an illegal boycott.”
GARM’s stated purpose is to help the advertising industry address harmful content on digital media platforms. Alliance members use its resources to avoid placing ads next to content that could damage their brands’ reputation, GARM says.
Yaccarino called the practice a “stain on a great industry.”
“This case is about more than damages – we have to fix a broken ecosystem that allows this illegal activity to occur,” she wrote. “We will continue to innovate and ensure X has a vibrant future while the courts will hold accountable those who engaged in illegal behavior.”
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