X sues major advertisers for alleged boycott

X, formerly Twitter, is suing several major advertisers, including Mars, Unilever, and CVS Health. This action is part of an antitrust lawsuit against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), as announced by CEO Linda Yaccarino in an open letter.

Yaccarino claims that these advertisers participated in an “illegal boycott” of X. She argues that this boycott aimed to hurt the platform's diverse user base, which includes sports fans, gamers, journalists, activists, parents, and leaders.

GARM, part of the World Federation of Advertisers, was created to set safety guidelines for online advertising. The lawsuit alleges that GARM and other groups worked together to keep billions of dollars in ad revenue away from X.

This is not the first lawsuit X has filed over advertiser issues. The company previously sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) after the group published research criticizing X for not removing hateful posts. That lawsuit was dismissed, with the judge stating X was trying to "punish" the group.

Elon Musk, who owns X, shared his frustration in a recent post, saying, “We tried being nice for 2 years and got nothing but empty words. Now, it is war.”

I think this lawsuit shows how tricky it is for platforms like X to manage free speech and keep advertisers happy. It feels like a tough battle that could shake up how ads work on social media.