X files antitrust lawsuit against advertisers for “illegal boycott”

X is suing a group of major advertisers over accusations of an “illegal boycott” of the platform formerly known as Twitter. In the lawsuit filed Tuesday, X alleges that Unilever, Mars, CVS, Ørsted and dozens of other brands conspired to “collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue” through an industry initiative by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA).

To join the WFA initiative, called the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), companies must agree to stop advertising on social media platforms that don’t comply with the organization’s security standards. X claims that GARM “organized an advertiser boycott of Twitter” to force the company to comply with the initiative’s security standards. The lawsuit was filed despite X announcing that he was “thrilled” to rejoin GARM last month.

“The evidence and facts are on our side,” X CEO Linda Yaccarino said in a video posted on X. “They conspired to boycott X, which threatens our ability to grow in the future. This puts your global Town Square — the one place where you can freely and openly express yourself — at long-term risk.”

In a separate post, Elon Musk wrote that he “strongly encourages any company that has been systematically boycotted by advertisers to file a lawsuit,” as there could also be “criminal liability” under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act — a law aimed at cracking down on organized crime.

X’s lawsuit, which can be read in full at the bottom of this story, cites a July 10 report on WFA from the House Judiciary Committee that found that “the collusion between WFA and GARM to demonetize adverse content” was “alarming.” Earlier this month, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent letters to 40 companies involved in GARM to ask why advertisers were “boycotting” right-wing media outlets like Joe Rogan Experience, The Daily Wire, Breitbart or Fox News. Musk has already threatened to sue advertisers involved in the alleged boycott.

It’s unclear how well X’s lawsuit will fare in court, since, as Techdirt notes, the ability to choose where to advertise is protected by the First Amendment. Ad tech watchdog group Check My Ads similarly states that advertisers have the right “not to send money to a platform that promotes hate and conspiracy theories.”