Elon Musk’s social media platform X is suing a global advertising group and four large companies, accusing them of conspiring to organize an illegal boycott of the site that has cost X billions of dollars in advertising revenue.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Wichita Falls, Texas, comes as X – formerly known as Twitter – struggles to sell advertising following a mass departure of large companies from the site since Musk acquired the company in late 2022.
The lawsuit names the World Federation of Advertisers and CVS Health, snacks maker Mars, Unilever and Ørsted A/S, a Danish energy company with extensive U.S. operations.
X accuses the defendants and the WFA’s Global Alliance for Responsible Media project of violating the Sherman Act by conspiring “along with dozens of non-defendant co-conspirators, to collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue from Twitter, Inc.”
“This is not a decision we took lightly, but it is a direct consequence of their actions,” X CEO Linda Yaccarino posted in “an open letter to advertisers” Tuesday. “The illegal behavior of these organizations and their executives cost X billions of dollars.”
The World Federation of Advertisers declined to comment on the lawsuit, a spokesman said in an email. The four companies did not respond to emails from Legal Dive seeking comment on the lawsuit.
“The boycott and its effects continue to this day, despite X applying brand safety standards comparable to those of its competitors and which meet or exceed those specified by GARM,” the lawsuit states. “The conduct of Defendants and their co-conspirators is a naked restraint of trade without countervailing benefits to competition or consumers.”
X is seeking a permanent injunction against the defendants and financial damages resulting from the alleged boycott. X said its lawsuit was drawn from information on GARM that was gathered for a House Judiciary Committee report last month.
“Pursuant to the conspiracy, major brand advertisers, including the advertiser Defendants and dozens of non-defendant co-conspirators, agreed to and did, abruptly and in lockstep, boycott Twitter by discontinuing entirely or substantially reducing their previously substantial advertising purchases from Twitter,” the lawsuit says.
Musk has had a turbulent relationship with advertisers since he took over the company. One of his first acts was to disband much of the site’s content moderation work, which contributed to an increase of hate and other objectionable content on the site, thus prompting an exodus by many sizable advertisers.
In late November, an incensed Musk used a crude expletive at a New York Times business conference when asked about financial pressure on X related to the dramatic decline in advertising.
That same month, X sued a watchdog group, Media Matters, which had documented a rise in antisemitic and pro-Nazi content on X. That suit is scheduled for trial in April 2025. Last year, a federal judge in California dismissed a similar lawsuit X had filed against another group, the Center for Countering Digital Hate.
In November 2022, Musk threatened a “thermonuclear name and shame” effort against advertisers who were organizing boycotts of the site.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a World Federation of Advertisers spokesman declining to comment on the lawsuit.
