Major advertisers reject claims of conspiring to boycott X, urge US court to dismiss Elon Musk-led lawsuit
Major advertisers have asked a federal court to dismiss Elon Musk’s lawsuit, denying claims they coordinated a boycott of X and asserting their ad pullbacks were independent, market-driven decisions.
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A coalition of global advertisers, including Nestlé, Shell, and Abbott Laboratories, has asked a federal judge in Texas to dismiss a lawsuit filed by X Corp., the company formerly known as Twitter, rejecting allegations that they coordinated a boycott of the platform.
In a joint court filing this week, the companies contended that their decisions to suspend advertising on X were made independently and reflected concerns over the platform’s content moderation practices following its acquisition by Elon Musk in 2022. The filing argues that these choices were not part of any organized campaign, but rather responses to what the advertisers described as a deteriorating brand environment.
The lawsuit, originally filed by X in August 2024 and later expanded, accuses the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and several corporations of violating federal antitrust laws. Central to the complaint is the role of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, or GARM, a WFA initiative that X alleges facilitated a “massive advertiser boycott” to coerce the platform into adhering to certain brand safety standards.
The defendants have denied those claims, asserting that the platform’s advertising losses were the result of internal decisions made under Musk’s leadership. Citing a spike in antisemitic and other objectionable content, the advertisers argued that X had become a less viable platform for brand messaging after it scaled back moderation and reinstated previously banned accounts.
“X Corporation’s suit is an attempt to use the courthouse to win back business it lost in the free market, after alienating customers through its own actions,” the companies said in their legal response.
X has alleged that the withdrawal of advertising caused billions of dollars in lost revenue during the final months of 2022, harming its competitive position in the digital ad market. The company maintains that a coordinated effort among advertisers led to this decline.
The WFA, which ceased operations of GARM in August 2024 following the onset of litigation, has also denied any wrongdoing. “Antitrust law does not require advertisers to continue supporting a platform that degrades the quality of its service,” the group’s filing stated.
Despite the legal dispute, X has recently shown signs of a modest recovery. In March, the market research firm Emarketer projected that the platform would generate $1.31 billion in U.S. advertising revenue in 2025, a 17.5 percent increase and its first annual growth since Musk’s takeover. Industry giants including Amazon, Disney, and Comcast have reportedly resumed limited advertising.
The court has not yet ruled on whether the case will proceed to trial. In the meantime, the advertisers insist their actions were lawful and based on independent business considerations and not the result of collusion.
