Elon Musk attends the “Exploring the Latest Frontiers of Innovation: Mark Read in Conversation with Elon Musk” session through the Cannes Lions International Festival Of Creativity 2024 – Day Three in Cannes, France, on June 19, 2024.
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A worldwide promoting group has suspended the operations of a unit focused on brand safety days after Elon Musk’s X sued the association for allegedly leading an illegal ad boycott.
The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) confirmed on Thursday that it could halt its Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) non-profit initiative. The project was began in 2019 partially to assist advertisers avoid having their promotions show up alongside content they deem harmful.
Business insider first reported that GARM was being shuttered.
X, formerly Twitter, filed a federal lawsuit earlier this week against WFA and member corporations, including Unilever, Mars and CVS Health. The suit alleged that the WFA engaged in anticompetitive behavior and arranged an promoting boycott that ultimately damaged X’s financial health.
Within the lawsuit, filed within the Northern District of Texas, X’s attorneys referenced previous allegations made by the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee against GARM that claimed the group’s activities “rob consumers of decisions” and are “likely illegal under the antitrust laws.”
Russell Dye, a spokesperson for the House Judiciary panel, called the disbanding of GARM “a giant win for the primary amendment and a giant win for Chairman Jordan’s oversight work.”
Following Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in 2022, various advertisers paused their campaigns because of what civil rights and other groups found to be a rise in hate speech and problematic content on the platform.
Musk told advertisers during a public interview last November to “Go f—yourself” in the event that they were attempting to “blackmail” him by pausing their X ad spending.
“The entire world will know that those advertisers killed the corporate and we’ll document it in great detail,” Musk said on the time.
X has since sued various watchdog organizations like Media Matters and the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), which published reports in regards to the rise of hate speech and homophobic, conspiratorial and other inflammatory content on the positioning.
In March, a California judge dismissed X’s lawsuit against the CCDH, writing “This case is about punishing the Defendants for his or her speech.”
Ruben Schreurs, chief strategy officer at media marketing group Ebiquity, called X’s lawsuit against WFA an example of “weaponized litigation” that “simply serves as a vehicle to stifle those voices and to cripple the organizations” which are attempting to make the net safer, particularly for youngsters.
Brands are finding themselves wrapped up in a political battle, Schreurs said. The House Committee said in March that it obtained evidence that GARM members illegally colluded to “demonetize conservative platforms and voices.”
Schreurs said X’s lawsuit against the WFA will likely be dismissed. Still, he’s concerned in regards to the aggressive moves against advertisers and said the legal actions “are more political in nature than fact based.”
X didn’t reply to a request for comment.
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