The battle between Elon Musk’s X Corp and the World Federation of Advertisers is officially on, as Musk sues the federation and various other large corporations.
This is due to an alleged ‘group boycott’ which X Corp says involved competing advertisers “acting with and through” the federation.
They believe the “Defendants conspired, along with dozens of non-defendant co-conspirators, to collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue from Twitter, Inc…”
“We tried peace for 2 years, now it is war,” said the Tesla CEO on Tuesday (July 6).
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas and it focuses on the advertiser’s Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative. Unilever PLC, Unilever United States, Mars, CVS Health Corporation, and Ørsted A/S are the other defendants.
We tried peace for 2 years, now it is war https://t.co/elgT62uDtF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2024
The filing states: “This is an antitrust action relating to a group boycott by competing advertisers of one of the most popular social media platforms in the United States… Concerned that Twitter might deviate from certain brand safety standards for advertising on social media platforms set through GARM, the conspirators collectively acted to enforce Twitter’s adherence to those standards through the boycott.”
X is seeking treble damages to be calculated based on the ‘actual damages in an amount to be determined at trial,’ along with ‘injunctive relief.’
This new move by X comes just a month after Musk took to social media to say: “Having seen the evidence unearthed today by Congress, X has no choice but to file suit against the perpetrators and collaborators in the advertising boycott racket.
“Hopefully, some states will consider criminal prosecution.”
On the same day as the filing, the CEO of X Corp Linda Yaccarino published a letter and video.
A Message to X Users pic.twitter.com/6bZOYPhWVa
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) August 6, 2024
In the letter, she writes: “…This behavior is a stain on a great industry, and cannot be allowed to continue.”
“This is not a decision we took lightly, but it is a direct consequence of their actions,” she later said.
Featured Image: Via Midjourney
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