Elon Musk’s social media platform X has escalated its legal battle against major advertisers, adding global brands including Nestlé, Lego, Abbott Laboratories, Colgate-Palmolive, Pinterest, Tyson Foods, and Shell to an existing lawsuit alleging an unlawful advertising boycott.
The amended complaint, filed in a Texas court on Saturday, builds on a case initially launched in August 2024 against the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), CVS Health, Mars, Ørsted, and Twitch. X claims these advertisers, under the now-defunct Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), conspired to “collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue” following Musk’s takeover of the platform in late 2022.
According to X’s filing, the WFA and its GARM initiative pressured members to pull advertising from the platform due to concerns about Musk’s approach to content moderation. The company argues this coordinated action amounted to anti-competitive behaviour, significantly damaging its advertising revenue and competitiveness in the digital ad market.
The alleged boycott
X contends that at least 18 members of GARM ceased advertising on the platform between November and December 2022. The lawsuit claims this was an attempt to coerce X into adhering to GARM’s brand safety standards, which the social media company alleges were selectively enforced.
Originally founded in 2019, GARM was designed to provide voluntary brand safety guidelines for advertisers, media owners, and agencies. Many major brands and agencies adopted these frameworks, which dictated what types of content should be avoided in advertising placements. X itself was a previous member of GARM before the lawsuit.
However, in response to X’s legal challenge, GARM discontinued operations in 2024, citing the financial burden of defending itself against the lawsuit. The WFA has denied any wrongdoing, stating it adheres to competition law and planned to contest the lawsuit.
Musk’s war on the advertising industry
Since acquiring Twitter for US$44 billion in October 2022 and rebranding it as X, Musk has implemented radical changes, including reinstating previously banned accounts and reducing content moderation. These moves prompted many advertisers to pause or withdraw their spending on the platform, contributing to a sharp decline in ad revenue. Reports indicate that X has lost 50 of its top 100 advertisers since Musk’s takeover.
The lawsuit argues that advertisers should not be allowed to collectively dictate brand safety standards in a way that restricts competition among social media platforms. “But collective action among competing advertisers to dictate brand safety standards to be applied by social media platforms shortcuts the competitive process and allows the collective views of a group of advertisers with market power to override the interests of consumers,” X’s legal team stated in the complaint, as reported by NPR.
A broader battle in the advertising industry
X’s lawsuit isn’t the only legal challenge facing the advertising sector. The WFA, alcohol giant Diageo, and ad agency holding company WPP are also being sued by video platform Rumble, which alleges a similar conspiracy to restrict advertising on select social platforms. Meanwhile, US House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan is investigating whether the industry’s participation in GARM led to the demonetisation of conservative media.
Mediaweek has reached out to the companies involved for comment. At the time of publication, X, Nestlé, Abbott Laboratories, Colgate-Palmolive, Lego, Pinterest, Tyson Foods, and Shell had not responded.