X and Rumble file antitrust complaint against global ad group

Elon Musk‘s social media platform X filed an antitrust lawsuit against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, accusing the international advertising group of illegally boycotting companies, including the video-sharing site Rumble and other platforms.

X Corp. CEO Linda Yaccarino posted a video Tuesday announcing X, formerly known as Twitter, filed a lawsuit against GARM, World Federation Advertisers, and top members of GARM such as Mars, CVS Health, Unilever, and Orsted. The suit is joined by Rumble, an alternative video website to popular platforms like YouTube that conservative influencers laud as a free speech alternative.

The latest antitrust suit comes after Yaccarino said she reviewed the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation into GARM that found “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.”

The complaint alleges that several key advertisers coordinated by GARM conspired to boycott X by withholding advertising revenue. The complaint contends this alleged action was taken to enforce GARM’s brand safety standards and was not in the individual economic interests of the advertisers but rather a collective effort to pressure X into compliance.

“The conduct of Defendants and their co-conspirators is a naked restraint of trade without countervailing benefits to competition or consumers … The Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, does not allow this,” the complaint states. “The brand safety standards set by GARM should succeed or fail in the marketplace on their own merits and not through the coercive exercise of market power by advertisers acting collectively to promote their own economic interests through commercial restraints at the expense of social media platforms and their users.”

Rumble also accused GARM of using a “one-size-fits-all standards to perpetrate an advertiser boycott against Rumble and other platforms,” according to a press release.

Both X and Rumble are seeking a permanent injunction against “the continued conduct, damages, interest, and legal fees, among other relief,” the press release added.

The complaint comes just one day after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled against Google in a landmark antitrust case. The judge found that Google’s parent company, Alphabet, violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by paying other companies to assert dominance over other search platforms.

X Corp.’s suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Wichita Falls Division, which, according to legal experts, has a “100%” chance of being assigned to Judge Reed O’Connor, an appointee of former President George W. Bush. The judge has ruled in favor of several conservative-backed efforts since the start of the Biden administration, such as blocking the Department of Defense from punishing Navy SEALs for refusing to take COVID-19 vaccines, ruling against Biden’s “pistol brace” rule, and issuing favorable decisions for Texas to halt amendments to Title IX.

After Musk purchased Twitter in April 2022 on a promise to allow more free and open dialogue, the social media platform began to see losses in advertisement revenue after major corporations pulled out due to concerns over “hate speech” appearing on the platform.

Musk announced in May of last year that Yaccarino would serve as the company’s new head following months of backlash toward Musk serving as CEO of the platform.

The Washington Examiner contacted GARM and WFA for comment.