X Expands Lawsuit, Targeting Big Brands in Ad Boycott Battle

X has added new companies to a lawsuit that alleges an advertising boycott began after Elon Musk purchased the social media platform.

Business Insider reported that major brands Nestle and Abbott Laboratories were added to the lawsuit filed in August as defendants in a revised complaint.

The New York Post reported that CVS, Twitch, CVS Health, Mars, and the Danish power company Orsted, were among the companies previously named as defendants in the suit.

The Post reported that Unilever was named in the suit but had been removed following a settlement with X.

In the amended complaint filed in Texas, it is claimed that between November 2022 and December 2022, at least 18 members of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media have stopped advertising on Twitter, either in the U.S.A. or globally. Business Insider reported that Musk’s acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion closed in October.

In an August letter to advertisers, X CEO Linda Yaccarino stated that the company filed a suit against GARM and their members because of the financial boycotts they had imposed on the social media website. This caused damage to both the customers and X.

At the time, Yaccarino took to X to say a U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s investigation “had found evidence of an illegal boycott against many companies, including X.”

GARM is no longer an active initiative of the World Federation of Advertisers. The WFA had previously stated that they would contest the lawsuit and were confident of their adherence to the competition laws.

Business Insider reported that in its latest legal filing, X alleges WFA has “organized an advertiser’s boycott of Twitter via GARM to coerce Twitter to comply with the GARM Brand Safety Standards, to the satisfaction of GARM”.

USA Today reported that Musk’s lawyers argued that social media platforms should be allowed to set their brand safety standards. These standards would be “optimal” both for the platform and its users. The advertisers could then decide where to advertise.

The outlet reported that X’s complaint also alleges that GARM member companies applauded Musk’s platform when it failed to reach its forecast revenue goals and that the boycott still affects X despite applying standards that “meet or exceed those specified” by GARM.