Elon Musk's X files antitrust lawsuit against worldwide advertising group
X CEO Linda Yaccarino says GARM's tactics have cost the social media site billions
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Elon Musk's social media platform, X, has filed an antitrust lawsuit against The Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), accusing the advertising group of illegally boycotting companies, including X, formerly known as Twitter.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced Tuesday the company has filed a lawsuit against GARM, World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), and GARM members CVS Health, Mars, Orsted and Unilever.
FOX Business has reached out to all defendants for comment.
Yaccarino said X filed the suit after reviewing the House Judiciary Committee's recent investigation that found evidence "GARM and its members directly organized boycotts and used other indirect tactics to target disfavored platforms, content creators, and news organizations in an effort to demonetize and, in effect, limit certain choices for consumers."
She said X determined GARM's tactics have cost X billions of dollars.
In a Tuesday press release, the video-sharing platform and cloud services provider Rumble announced it was joining the lawsuit.
GARM claims to be "apolitical" and "voluntary" and says that it benefits its members by providing use of "resources and information about best practices to learn where their advertising investments go, and to avoid placement next to illegal or harmful content that could damage their brands’ reputation."
However, GARM's critics have a different view of the organization and suggest that it has colluded with dozens of major U.S. corporations to push boycotts and suppress speech in a manner that targets conservatives.
In discussing his views on freedom of speech, GARM’s leader and co-founder, Rob Rakowitz, has expressed frustration with an "extreme global interpretation of the US Constitution" and complained about using "‘principles for governance’ and applying them as literal law from 230 years ago (made by white men exclusively)." With this worldview, GARM pushed what it called "uncommon collaboration" to "rise above individual commercial interest."
GARM is alleged to have worked with large companies to implement advertising crackdowns on Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, Spotify, political candidates and news outlets, including Fox News, The Daily Wire and Breitbart News.
Musk has also publicly criticized GARM and previously suggested taking legal action against the group while referring to it as an "advertising boycott racket."
Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk attends an event during the Vivatech technology startups and innovation fair at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris, on June 16, 2023. ((Photo by JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
The WFA spokesperson, Will Gilroy, told Fox News Digital this week that the "recent allegations by the US House Judiciary Committee against GARM for anti-competitive behavior are unfounded."
"Membership of GARM is entirely voluntary. Its frameworks and tools are intentionally broad, and individual companies are free to review, adopt, modify, or reject them, as they see fit," Gilroy said. "The decision where and when to advertise is always down to the individual advertiser, in collaboration with their agency partners where relevant."
"Recent engagement with industry leaders suggests that GARM’s work remains valuable and increasingly relevant as digital media continues to develop," he continued. "As such, GARM will continue to live up to its commitment to help allow its members to drive more responsible marketing practices."
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FOX News' Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.