UPDATED: The Elon Musk-owned social media X is suing, among others, the Danish energy company Ørsted on the basis of accusations of having agreed to an illegal boycott of X. This is stated in a post on X from Linda Yaccarino, CEO of the social media company.
The lawsuit is directed at the companies Ørsted, CVS Health, Mars and Unilever as members of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (Garm) initiative. It belongs to the group World Federation of Advertisers, which is also a defendant.
The news agency Reuters writes that the lawsuit has been filed in a federal court in the state of Texas. It states that advertisers through the Garm initiative jointly withheld "billions of dollars in advertising revenue" from X, formerly known as Twitter.
- This is not a decision that was easy to reach, but it is a direct consequence of their actions, the X director writes about the lawsuit.
- These organizations and their management's illegal behavior have cost X billions of dollars.
Ørsted informs Ritzau that the company does not immediately have any statements on the lawsuit. Reuters tried to get statements from the World Federation of Advertisers as well as CVS Health, Mars and Unilever on Tuesday. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Professor: Hard case to prosecute
Advertising revenue at X took a dive after Musk bought the company in 2022. Some advertisers said they were reluctant to pay for ads on the social media platform. They feared their companies would be side by side with harmful content that previous owners might have removed.
To Reuters, Christine Bartholomew, a professor at the University at Buffalo's law school and an expert in cartel formation, said that such lawsuits for an illegal boycott can be difficult to prosecute. X will have to show in court that there was a boycott agreement that all advertisers agreed to.
- Proving it is no small matter, she says.
The professor explains that such agreements can be more informal, for example. Even if X wins, the social media company cannot force companies to pay for ads on its platform, she adds.
Danske Ørsted develops, builds and operates wind farms and other energy facilities. The company has almost 9,000 employees and had a turnover of DKK 79.3 billion in 2023.
/ritzau/
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