Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter, has launched a high-stakes legal battle against a group of major advertisers. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in a federal court in Texas, accuses the World Federation of Advertisers and member companies Unilever, Mars, CVS Health, and Ørsted of orchestrating a “massive advertiser boycott” that allegedly cost X billions of dollars in revenue and violated antitrust laws.
The lawsuit specifically targets the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, an initiative by the advertising group focused on brand safety. X claims this initiative coordinated a pause in advertising after Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in late 2022, during which he implemented significant changes to the platform’s staff and policies.
Musk took to X on Tuesday to express his frustration, declaring, “Now it is war” after two years of patience and “getting nothing but empty words.”
In a video announcement, X CEO Linda Yaccarino explained that the lawsuit was partly based on evidence uncovered by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. According to Yaccarino, this evidence indicated that a “group of companies organized a systematic illegal boycott” against X.
Musk also encouraged other companies facing similar issues to take legal action, tweeting, “I strongly encourage any company who has been systematically boycotted by advertisers to file a lawsuit. There may also be criminal liability via the RICO Act.”
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