On Tuesday, Elon Musk’s social media platform X filed a lawsuit against a global advertising coalition and several major companies, including Unilever, Mars, and CVS Health. The lawsuit alleges that they illegally conspired to alienate the social network and intentionally cause it to lose revenue, claiming they engaged in a “massive advertiser boycott.”
Company X filed the lawsuit against the World Federation of Advertisers and the companies in federal court in Texas on Tuesday.
“We’ve been trying for peace for 2 years, now it’s war,” Musk tweeted on Tuesday.
The lawsuit claims that advertisers, through the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, withheld “billions of dollars in advertising revenue” from X, violating U.S. antitrust law.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino stated, “When the marketplace of ideas is restricted, people hurt. A few should not have a monopoly on what is monetized.” She expressed concern that the boycott aimed to deprive X of its users.
The World Advertising Federation, Unilever, Mars, CVS Health, and Ørsted did not provide immediate comments on the lawsuit.
X’s advertising revenue declined after Musk acquired the company in 2022. The lawsuit mentions the surge in anti-Semitic content on X following changes made by Musk and a pending trial against Media Matters in April 2025.
The Responsible Media Initiative was launched in 2019 to address harmful content monetization. X claims to meet or exceed the standards set by the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, seeking damages and an injunction to prevent further withholding of advertising dollars.
The complaint alleges that Company X has become less competitive in digital advertising sales.
Source: www.theguardian.com
