World Federation of Advertisers suspends brand safety unit after Elon Musk’s lawsuit

The World Federation of Advertisers, a global advertising association, said it is suspending the operations of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), two days after Elon Musk’s X sued the group. The Musk-owned platform formerly known as Twitter alleged that GARM organized an illegal ad boycott.

GARM is nonprofit initiative started in 2019 with a focus on brand safety and to help advertisers avoid having their ads appear next to harmful content.

X filed a federal lawsuit in August against WFA and member companies, including Unilever, Mars and CVS Health, as per reports. The suit alleged that the WFA engaged in anti-competitive behavior and organized an ad boycott that ultimately hurt X’s financial health. The suit claimed that dozens of brands conspired to “collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue” through a WFA industry initiative.

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

Addressing the disbanding of GARM, Yaccarino said in another post on X, “This is an important acknowledgement and a necessary step in the right direction. I am hopeful that it means ecosystem-wide reform is coming.”