Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter), announced on Thursday that he plans to sue a group of major companies for allegedly participating in an “advertising boycott racket.”
Musk’s announcement comes after a report from the US House Judiciary Committee found that a censorship cartel created by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) has been targeting X since Musk purchased the platform in 2022.
The report alleges that large corporations, advertising agencies, and industry associations, through the WFA and its Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative, have “participated in boycotts and coordinated action to demonetize platforms, podcasts, news outlets, and other content that GARM and its members deem disfavored.”
“Having seen the evidence unearthed today by Congress, X has no choice but to file suit against the perpetrators and collaborators in the advertising boycott racket,” Musk wrote on X on Thursday. “Hopefully, some states will consider criminal prosecution.”
The lawsuit is Musk’s response to what he sees as a deliberate attempt by the coalition to destabilize his platform through a prearranged advertising boycott.
In a congressional testimony on Wednesday, Ben Shapiro, co-founder of the Daily Wire, argued that advertisers are targeting conservative news websites.
Shapiro claimed that there is an “informal pressure system created by Democratic legislators, this White House, legacy media, advertisers, and pseudo-objective brand safety organizations” which ensures that “advertising dollars flow only to left-wing media brands.”
The House Judiciary Committee report stated that GARM’s “alarming” censorship activities “rob consumers of choices” and “threaten fundamental American freedoms.”
GARM was established by the WFA to “address the challenge of harmful content on digital media platforms and its monetization via advertising,” and includes companies such as Disney, Coca-Cola, Toyota, and Hershey among its members.
The organization, which Shapiro claims acts as a cartel, sets brand safety and objectivity standards to determine what content is deemed safe for advertising.
WFA members account for roughly 90% of all advertising spending in the US, amounting to nearly $1 trillion annually, according to the congressional report.