Advertising group sued by Elon Musk ‘ceases’ operations

On Tuesday, Elon Musk announced a lawsuit filed by X Corps against a little-known ad consortium called GARM (short for Global Alliance for Responsible Media). X alleged that GARM conspired to cut off ad revenue for his company, depriving it of “billions” of dollars. Now, about 48 hours later, it appears the embattled ad organization is shutting down and disbanding.

The New York Times reports that GARM plans to “shut down,” citing an internal email from the nonprofit that stated it does not have the financial resources to continue operations while it fights X’s lawsuit. Business Insider originally reported on the email, which stated that the organization would “cease and desist” from its operations.

GARM was an initiative launched by the World Federation of Advertisers in 2019 after the Christchurch massacre. It publicly stated that its goal was to address “the challenge of illegal or harmful content on digital media platforms and their monetization through advertising.” Functionally, that meant advising companies on sites that could prove problematic from a brand safety perspective. An investigation by the conservative-leaning House Judiciary Committee alleges that the organization violated antitrust laws in its efforts to “demonetize harmful content in the name of brand safety” and that it specifically targeted conservative organizations.

Last year, Musk told advertisers who didn’t like him or his website to “get lost,” saying he hoped companies that didn’t support his way of doing business wouldn’t advertise on X. He clearly didn’t mean it, as his company is now suing some of the advertisers who did. X’s lawsuit claims that after Musk took over Twitter (which he later renamed X), GARM helped spark a “massive advertiser boycott” that deprived the company of “billions of dollars in advertising revenue.” The lawsuit says that internally, “GARM celebrated — and took responsibility for — the massive economic harm that the boycott caused Twitter.”

While the organization could be shut down, GARM and WEF have denied breaking antitrust laws. Gizmodo has reached out to both organizations for comment.

On Thursday, X CEO Linda Yaccarino posted about GARM’s dissolution, saying, “No single small group should be able to monopolize what is monetized. This is an important validation and a necessary step in the right direction. I hope this means that reform of the entire ecosystem is coming.”

Musk has yet to comment directly on the incident. The tech billionaire has made a habit of high-profile lawsuits in recent years. In addition to X’s legal attack on GARM, Musk and/or X are also currently suing OpenAI, the company he originally helped found, Media Matters, a left-wing nonprofit, and the Center for Countering Digital Hate, another nonprofit. Of course, the full list of legal entanglements involving Musk and his companies is long.