“X has not alleged that the boycott against it allows or is intended to allow a competing social media company to corner the supply market for online advertising space,” a federal judge wrote in her order to dismiss.
On Thursday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk-owned Twitter against a coalition of advertisers that organized a boycott against the social media platform.
According to The Hill, U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle found that Twitter, rebranded as “X,” did not suffer any antitrust-related injuries. Boyle also determined that her court did not have jurisdiction over several of the companies named as defendants in the lawsuit.
X’s lawsuit was originally filed against the World Federation of Advertisers and its Global Alliance for Responsible Media initiative, which was launched in 2024. Attorneys for the company accused the group of violating antitrust laws by conspiring to “collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue.”
The lawsuit named several other major companies as defendants, including Unilever, Mars, and CVS. It later added Shell, Nestle, and Lego, among others, to the case.
In her decision, Boyle noted that a group of competing companies who refuse to transact with a particular supplier can only cause antitrust harm if such a boycott is intended to allow another social media company to seize a greater share of the marketplace.
“X has not alleged that the boycott against it allows or is intended to allow a competing social media company to corner the supply market for online advertising space,” she wrote.
Boyle also said that a supplier like Twitter can suffer an antitrust injury if a cabal of competitors seeks to cut off access to other downstream customers. But, in this case, the defendants did not impose a “‘do not dare go around us’ restriction.”
“The conspiring advertisers here did not attempt to force X to advertise with only GARM advertisers so that they could control the social media advertising market or any other market,” Boyle said. “They merely decided that they would not buy from X for their own advertising needs, notwithstanding if X sold advertising space to anyone else.”
Musk, writes The Hill, has had a sour relationship with advertisers since he acquired Twitter for $44 billion in 2022. After unsuccessfully attempting to back out of the deal, Musk began making changes to the platform’s moderation policies, becoming far more lenient toward violent and radical far-right content. Advertisers quickly put distance between themselves and X, prompting Musk to react with unrestrained rage.
At one point, Musk told Twitter’s advertisers to “go f—” themselves before trying to blame former Disney CEO Bob Iger over that company’s refusal to cease advertising on X.
Sources
Elon Musk’s X advertising boycott lawsuit dismissed by US judge
Judge dismisses X lawsuit accusing advertisers of illegal boycott
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