A social media platform owned by Elon Musk which was previously called Twitter has taken the global alliance for responsible media, commonly known as GARM, and some top companies, including Unilever, CVS, Mars, and Orsted, to a federal antitrust lawsuit in Texas. The claims are that after Musk bought Twitter in October 2022 for $44 billion, these organizations schemed to deprive Twitter of billions of dollars in advertisement sales.
According to the complaint, GARM’s membership condition would force companies to hold advertising from any platform that was considered to be operating outside its brand safety policies. According to the sources, shortly after Musks takeover, GARM purportedly reported issues with X and its consequent advertisers’ boycott led to. ” The lawsuit also cites a House Judiciary Committee GOP report filed in July, which claimed that GARM plotted on how to starve right-wing media and voices of ads revenues.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino released a video saying she was ‘shocked’ by the ‘illegal boycott’ saying it would be ‘the death knell’ of the site. “It is wrong, plain and simple, and places the future in peril,” Yaccarino said.
This is not the first instance of Musk taking on the advertisement industry which is a case within a larger conflict. Ever since Musk bought Twitter, he refashioned it as X, returned the banned accounts, and decreased moderation – advertisers boycotted the platform as a result. In earlier cases, Musk has sued the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Media Matters for America citing that they are trying to get businesses to refuse to advertise on the website.
While dealing with such issues, the lawsuit illustrates that Musk’s adamant views on free speech do not account for financial considerations tied to advertiser censorship campaigns. This particular case holds a potential to affect the future of X and its role in the sphere of social networking.