Elon Musk and X.com have filed a lawsuit because an advertiser association is avoiding the social network for advertising.
What is behind the lawsuit? Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X.com (formerly Twitter), announced in a statement that they will take antitrust action against advertising industry associations.
These associations are the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) [deutsch etwa: Globale Allianz für verantwortungsvolle Medien] and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) [deutsch etwa: Weltverband der Werbetreibenden].
In an open letter, Yaccarino writes:
Today, X filed an antitrust lawsuit against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), and GARM members CVS Health, Mars, Orsted, and Unilever. This is not a decision we made lightly, but it is a direct consequence of their actions.
Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X via X.com
According to Yaccarino, the reason for the lawsuit is a report by the Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives, which shows that GARM had conducted an “illegal boycott against many companies, including X”.
Allianz is therefore accused of avoiding X.com as an advertising platform.
What do Sony and EA have to do with it? The GARM is a “cross-sector initiative” of the WFA, founded in 2019. The initiative’s mission is to “support the industry in tackling the problem of illegal or harmful content on digital media platforms and its monetization through advertising” (via wfanet.org).
Electronic Arts (EA) and Sony are also members of the WFA. But there are also companies such as Aldi, Telekom, IKEA, LEGO, Nike, Vodafone and Disney (via wfanet.org).
One of EA’s most important brands is the football simulation EA Sports FC:
EA SPORTS FC 25 | Official Gameplay Deep Dive
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