Elon Musk’s platform X sues major advertisers over alleged boycott

Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against a global advertising alliance and several major companies, including Unilever, Mars, and CVS Health. The suit accuses these entities of unlawfully conspiring to boycott the platform and deliberately causing it to lose revenue. Formerly known as Twitter, X alleges a “massive advertiser boycott” orchestrated by the defendants.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Texas, targeting the World Federation of Advertisers and the individual companies. Musk tweeted, “We tried peace for 2 years, now it is war,” on the same day.

According to the lawsuit, advertisers, through the World Federation of Advertisers’ initiative called the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, collectively and maliciously withheld “billions of dollars in advertising revenue” from X. The company claims this action violated US antitrust law as the advertisers acted against their own economic interests in a conspiracy against the platform.

In a statement, X’s chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, said: “People are hurt when the marketplace of ideas is constricted. No small group of people should monopolize what gets monetized.” She added that the boycott’s consequence—or perhaps intent—was to deprive X’s diverse user base of the “Global Town Square.”

The World Advertising Federation, Unilever, Mars, CVS Health, and Orsted did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Since Musk acquired the company in 2022, ad revenue at X has significantly declined, partly due to brands’ concerns over the rapid changes under his leadership. Watchdog groups have reported an increase in antisemitic content on X, including ads appearing next to pro-Nazi posts, following Musk’s reduction of content moderation teams. A related lawsuit filed by X against Media Matters is set for trial in April 2025.

The responsible media initiative launched by the advertising group in 2019 aims to address the challenge of illegal or harmful content on digital media platforms and its monetization through advertising.

X claims in its lawsuit that it adheres to brand-safety standards comparable to its competitors and that meet or exceed the measures specified by the Global Alliance for Responsible Media. The company is seeking unspecified damages and a court order to prevent any continued efforts to withhold advertising dollars. The lawsuit also states that X has become a “less effective competitor” in the digital advertising market.