A federal judge in Texas has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk's X against several companies, including the World Federation of Advertisers, Nestle SA, and Shell PLC. X had accused these companies of orchestrating an advertising boycott against the social media platform following Musk's acquisition. However, the judge granted the defendants' request to dismiss the case, effectively ending X's legal challenge regarding the alleged boycott.
Separately, the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), a nonprofit initiative founded by the World Federation of Advertisers, announced it would halt its activities. This decision comes after X filed an antitrust lawsuit against GARM, alleging that the group and other defendants tried to monopolize ad revenue and deprived the social media site of billions of dollars in revenue. GARM stated it could not afford to fight the lawsuit from X.
Elon Musk commented on GARM's decision, stating, "We tried being nice for 2 years and got nothing but empty words. Now, it is war." Linda Yaccarino, X's CEO, also reacted positively to GARM closing, emphasizing that "No small group should be able to monopolize what gets monetized." She expressed hope for ecosystem-wide reform. Congress's House Judiciary GOP also celebrated GARM's discontinuance as a "Big win for the First Amendment" and "oversight." These developments highlight continued tensions between X and parts of the advertising industry.
