Elon Musk’s social media platform X on Tuesday sued a global advertising alliance and several major companies, including Mars and CVS Health, accusing them of unlawfully conspiring to boycott the site and causing it to lose revenue.
X filed the lawsuit in federal court in Texas against the World Federation of Advertisers, Unilever (ULVR.L), opens new tab and Danish renewable energy company Orsted, in addition to Mars and CVS Health (CVS.N), opens new tab.
The lawsuit said, opens new tab advertisers, acting through a World Federation of Advertisers initiative called Global Alliance for Responsible Media, collectively withheld “billions of dollars in advertising revenue” from X, previously known as Twitter.
It said they acted against their own economic self-interests in a conspiracy against the platform that violated U.S. antitrust law.
The World Federation of Advertisers, Unilever, Mars, CVS Health and Orsted did not immediately respond to requests for comment.In a statement on Tuesday about the lawsuit, X’s chief executive Linda Yaccarino said “people are hurt when the marketplace of ideas is constricted. No small group of people should monopolize what gets monetized.”
Ad revenue at X slumped for months after Musk bought the company in 2022. Some advertisers had been wary of ad spending under Musk amid questions and fears that their brands would appear next to harmful content that under prior owners might have been removed.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/legal/musks-x-accuses-advertisers-illegal-boycott-new-lawsuit-2024-08-06/