X filed an antitrust lawsuit Tuesday against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, alleging the advertising group illegally boycotted the social media site.
X’s CEO Linda Yaccarino announced the lawsuit in a video post on the platform. She said she launched the suit after reading the House Judiciary Committee’s latest findings in its investigation into X’s ad exodus.
“These organizations targeted our company and you, our users. The evidence and facts are on our side,” Ms. Yaccarino said. “People are hurt when the marketplace of ideas is constricted. No small group of people should be able to monopolize what gets monetized.”
She said GARM’s efforts cost X billions of dollars and have prevented growth at the company.
The lawsuit also targets several executives at GARM and the World Federation of Advertisers.
Video-sharing platform Rumble said it would join X’s suit Tuesday, alleging a conspiracy to withhold ad dollars from the platform.
“The brand safety standards set by advertisers and their ad agencies should succeed or fail in the marketplace on their own merits and not through the coercive exercise of market power,” Rumble said in a statement Tuesday.
X has struggled to maintain advertisers after Elon Musk took over the company in late 2022. Since then, he has alienated many advertisers by reinstating the accounts of conservative users, a move cheered by many on the right. As of this year, estimates suggest that X has lost nearly 50% of its ad revenue since he took over.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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