Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, has filed a lawsuit against several major corporations and an advertising industry group, accusing them of conspiring to boycott the platform.
The legal action, lodged in a Texas court, targets food giants Unilever and Mars, healthcare company CVS Health, renewable energy firm Orsted, and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA)
X alleges that this coordinated boycott has cost the social media platform billions of dollars in lost advertising revenue.
The lawsuit stems from the period following Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in 2022, when advertising revenue plummeted amid concerns over content moderation and the platform’s overall direction under its new owner.
Many advertisers paused or reduced their spending on the platform.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino characterized the alleged boycott as a threat to the company’s future, claiming that it restricts the “marketplace of ideas” and unfairly limits the platform’s ability to generate revenue.
Musk himself took to Twitter to declare “war” on the advertisers, accusing them of failing to honor their promises.
Legal experts, however, are skeptical about the case’s prospects.
They argue that proving a coordinated boycott would be extremely difficult, especially given the First Amendment protections afforded to boycotts motivated by political or social concerns.
Even if X were to win the lawsuit, it would not force companies to advertise on the platform.
The company is seeking unspecified damages and a court order to prevent future attempts to conspire against it.
The lawsuit is the latest chapter in the tumultuous relationship between X and the advertising industry, with significant implications for the future of digital advertising and platform accountability.
