Musk X is suing unfaithful advertisers.
When Twitter was still Twitter, it had twice as many advertising clients. After Musk's takeover of the social network, companies fear for their reputation if they place ads there, as the rules against hate and incitement are vague. X suspects a conspiracy - and is suing.
Elon Musk's online platform X is taking big advertisers to court who no longer want to place ads on the Twitter successor. This includes consumer goods giant Unilever and food conglomerate Mars, among others.
X accuses them of a coordinated boycott and a violation of competition law. Dozens of members of an international advertising organization have allegedly conspired to withhold "billions of dollars" from X. The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), which is also being sued, has not yet responded to the allegations.
The lawsuit escalates a conflict that began with Musk's takeover of Twitter in October 2022. The tech billionaire describes himself as a champion of unrestricted free speech. Musk, who himself leans towards the political positions of the American right, has relaxed the implementation of Twitter rules against the spread of hate speech and misinformation.
Musk declares war on advertisers on X
One consequence of Musk's takeover was the departure of large and small advertising customers. He said several times that the ad revenue had halved. The companies are concerned about their reputation: hate speech researchers have shown how ads from well-known brands can appear next to antisemitic posts. X described these examples as manipulated and not everyday occurrences.
The advertisers want to prevent their ads from appearing next to problematic content with their initiative. Therefore, they only want to place ads on online platforms that adhere to guidelines for this. X accuses the association of trying to force the service to implement the requirements through a boycott. We tried it peacefully for two years, now there is war, Musk wrote on X about the lawsuit. He had already attacked disloyal advertising customers with obscene words months ago - and targeted Disney in particular at the time.
Despite the concerns about their reputation, many companies continue to avoid advertising on The economy due to Musk's relaxed approach to hate speech and misinformation. The departure of large and small advertising customers has significantly impacted The economy's revenue.
The steering committee of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) insists that they are only pushing for online platforms to adhere to guidelines, and any suggestion of a coordinated boycott or violation of competition law is unfounded.
