Elon Musk’s X sues Lego, Nestlé, and others over alleged ad boycott
Since Musk took over Twitter, the platform has changed significantly. He reinstated banned accounts, removed content moderation teams, and cut staff responsible for tackling political interference and child exploitation
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Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has expanded a lawsuit to include several major brands, accusing them of illegally boycotting the site after Musk took over in 2022.
According to NPR, the case was originally filed last year in a Texas court and first targeted the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) along with firms like CVS and Twitch. But on Saturday, Musk’s legal team updated the complaint, adding more big names, including Lego, Nestlé, Tyson Foods, Abbott Laboratories, Colgate-Palmolive, Pinterest, and Shell International.
The lawsuit claims that the WFA was worried X, formerly Twitter, would not follow its brand safety programme, the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM). As a result, the group allegedly planned a large-scale advertising pause.
At least 18 GARM members stopped advertising on X in the U.S. or globally after Musk’s takeover, while others cut back their spending significantly, the lawsuit states. X claims this cost the company billions in lost revenue, and the impact is still being felt.
Read More: Elon Musk to Mr.Beast: Who wants to buy TikTok amid 75-day deadline? Musk’s lawyers argue that social media platforms should have the right to set their own brand safety rules. They claim advertisers working together to impose standards on platforms disrupts fair competition and allows a few powerful brands to control the industry.
The companies newly added to the lawsuit have not yet responded to NPR’s request for comment.
Since Musk took over Twitter, the platform has changed significantly. He reinstated banned accounts, removed content moderation teams, and cut staff responsible for tackling political interference and child exploitation, NPR reports.
The WFA shut down GARM last year, saying that "misconceptions" about its role had caused too much disruption and drained resources.
