Elon Musk's X sues ad industry group over alleged advertising ‘boycott'

Elon Musk’s X has filed a lawsuit accusing a group of major advertisers of antitrust violations, alleging that they conspired to boycott advertising on the platform. The lawsuit targets the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), a voluntary ad-industry initiative. X claims that GARM organized to withhold billions of dollars in advertising from Twitter due to concerns about brand safety standards after Musk’s acquisition. Prominent companies like CVS, Unilever, Mars, and Ørsted were named as defendants in the lawsuit. X’s ad business has been severely impacted since Musk’s takeover, with brands pulling their spending over concerns about misinformation and hate speech. The lawsuit seeks to prevent GARM from continuing to make recommendations regarding advertising on X and requests monetary damages. X has previously filed lawsuits related to its declining ad business against the Center for Countering Digital Hate and Media Matters.