Overview
- U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle in the Northern District of Texas threw out X Corp.’s lawsuit after finding X failed to show an antitrust injury or a real agreement among advertisers.
- X alleged the World Federation of Advertisers and its Global Alliance for Responsible Media, an initiative that sets brand-safety standards, organized a boycott to pressure X to adopt GARM rules.
- The named companies, including Mars, Lego, Nestlé, Pinterest and CVS Health, said they acted on their own and reduced ads to avoid placing brands next to extremist or harmful content.
- Filed in summer 2024 as case 7:24-CV-0114-B, the suit sought triple damages for lost ad sales and an injunction against any joint refusal to advertise on X.
- Unilever reached a settlement with X and was removed from the case, and coverage notes that after Elon Musk’s 2022 takeover advertisers cut spending, Musk says ad revenue fell by about half, and X was later folded into xAI and then SpaceX to lessen reliance on ad dollars.