X and Rumble File Antitrust Lawsuits Against Major Ad Agency Amid Free Speech Controversy

The social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, and the video platform Rumble have filed lawsuits against a massive advertising agency for allegedly violating antitrust laws. The lawsuits allege that the ad agency encouraged the company members to boycott X and Rumble, which cost the platforms billions of dollars in ad revenue.

The X Corp lawsuit is against the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), which created a group known as the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM). The WFA includes Unilever, a company with several large brands, including Hellmann’s, Dove soap, Ben & Jerry’s, and Axe body spray, among others. The lawsuit specifically names Mars Inc, CVS, and Orsted. The members of the WFA include many large corporations:

Visa, Bayer, Aldi, Dell, T-Mobile, Johnson & Johnson, BP, Exxon Mobil, IBM, HP, KraftHeinz, Pepsi, Coca Cola, Shell, Disney, Toyota, Verizon, Walmart, EA, General Mills, IKEA, McDonalds, Mastercard, Phillips, Red Bull, Nike, Microsoft, Nestle, Mattel, Ralph Lauren, Nissan, Sony, and many more. Members of the WFA spend 90% of the world’s annual marketing expenses, which is about $900 billion per year.

Members of GARM are required to withhold ad dollars from platforms that fail to adopt the organization’s “brand safety standards.” Following Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, a mass boycott ensued under the guidance of GARM. Advertisers later asked GARM for permission to resume advertising on the platform. The actions of GARM caused companies to act against their economic interests which is the basis for the alleged antitrust violations. In the wake of the lawsuit filings, the WFA announced it is disbanding GARM.

The lawsuit states that the 2022 boycott was declared publicly among GARM members, and advertisers were unable to take advantage of the low advertising rates that Twitter was offering. Other social media platforms are also members of GARM, and Twitter was previously a member before Musk took over the platform. The members of social media platforms and competitors to Twitter did not have to lower their advertising rates to compete because they knew there was an active boycott against Twitter.

Elon Musk took over Twitter in 2022, intending to make it a social media platform guided by the principles of free speech. Rumble was also created as a free-speech video alternative to YouTube, which is owned by Google and has faced scrutiny for deleting unwanted views from the platform.

The WFA website states “Protecting your brand is as important as building it. WFA works with international bodies, such as WEF, WHO, APEC, OECD, and UNICEF, to help define best practice standards for marketing so as to help brands deliver on societies’ expectations.”

In June 2022, GARM announced new policies regarding misinformation. Rob Rakowitz, GARM Co-founder and initiative lead, was also behind a pressure campaign against Spotify to censor Joe Rogan after he made statements that healthy people shouldn’t get the COVID-19 vaccine. Johnson & Johnson and Merck are GARM members.

Last month, a report from the Federalists pointed out that Rakowitz complained about “radical interpretations” of free speech when he co-founded GARM in 2019. He said there should be an “uncommon collaboration” to “rise above individual commercial interest.”

In November, several media reports accused Elon Musk of antisemitic tweets, which led to more boycott threats of X. In an interview, Musk told advertisers he would not be blackmailed with advertising or money and told them to “go f*** yourself.” He specifically called out CEO Bob Iger of Disney, also a GARM member. Musk also said that if the advertiser boycotts continue, the platform will cease to exist.

Chris Pavlovski, the CEO of Rumble, shared some communications he had with companies regarding a potential advertising relationship. Diageo told Rumble, “There is no scenario where we approve a platform that has Steven Crowder, Alex Jones, or the like. The content on your platform is non-compliant pretty much across the board.” Diageo is the parent company of the alcohol brands Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan, Bailey’s, Crown Royal, and others.

Pavlovski, in an interview with Viva Frei, said he doubts Diageo would refrain from advertising on YouTube, which also has content from Steven Crowder. Crowder commented on X, saying, “Their goal isn’t just to shut us up. It’s to shut everybody up that doesn’t play along with their progressive globalist agenda.”

Dunkin Donuts and Inspire Brands told Rumble they would be “opposed to showing up on the current version of the platform – the right wing culture is too polarizing from a brand suitability standpoint today.” Inspire Brands also represents Buffalo Wild Wings, Arbys, Jimmy Johns, and others.

It is understood that companies have the freedom to advertise or not advertise on platforms for any reason they choose. The problem that Musk and Pavlovski have pointed out is that an organized effort by brands that control 90% of the marketing dollars in the world to boycott a platform is removing the forces of the free market. In fact, Musk shared data in January that X has the highest return on investment for advertisers.

The words of Rakowitz, GARM co-founder, indicate that GARM’s call to boycott X and Rumble could be based on ideological motives rather than “brand safety.” Alex Jones was banned from YouTube, Apple, Facebook, and Twitter in 2018 in what appeared to be a coordinated effort. While GARM was not yet created, it is unknown if the WFA played a role in pressuring social media platforms to make this decision.

In the case of Murthy v. Missouri (formerly Missouri v. Biden), it was also revealed that the government was using social media platforms to stop “misinformation” and “disinformation” about the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown protocols, and vaccines.

While X and Rumble try to separate themselves as platforms that will not regulate free speech, the government and the WFA have attempted to censor or pressure them into regulating content. Stephan Loerke, the CEO of WFA, said he was “frustrated” by the slow pace of government discussions regarding climate change action following the COP28 conference.

Loerke said, “One thing that gives me hope is that there is now an engagement of the business community on a scale that we’ve never seen before. The climate transition is going to profoundly reshape consumer demand in the years to come. And those brand marketers that will be faster and better at responding to the new needs will win in the marketplace. WFA is determined to support our members as they embrace these new opportunities.”

Loerke also commented on the role of diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability initiatives in marketing. He said, “Delivering on DEI and sustainability targets is an integral part of the growth agenda, not a distraction from it. For each agenda – and they are interlinked – the ROI is clear. All the data – including new research that the Unstereotype Alliance [unveiled] at Cannes – shows that progressive brands drive business growth.”

Loerke is referring to an “agenda” that he has as the CEO of the organization that controls 90% of marketing throughout the world. The free market for advertisers is threatened by an organization like this that controls the market share. Free speech is under threat as this powerful organization can initiate boycotts against platforms that allow something that is deemed “misinformation.”

The social media censorship during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that what is deemed “misinformation” may be entirely factual in nature. Actual misinformation was spread by President Biden when he said those who are vaccinated will not get sick with COVID. Those statements were not censored.

The World Economic Forum, which was named as a collaborator with the WFA, states that misinformation can be used to “strengthen digital authoritarianism” and to “control citizens.” The blog post implies that censorship is necessary to combat these risks. The World Health Organization (WHO) is also listed as a collaborator with the WFA and suggests that member states can combat disinformation by working with social media platforms.

The HighWire episode from August 1 discussed the media contradictions surrounding Vice President Kamala Harris being referred to as the ‘border czar.’ Host Del Bigtree asserted that large media companies cannot be trusted, citing a compilation of their contradictory statements. Meanwhile, the WHO recommends that member states promote “trusted sources of information and voices of authority.”

A 2022 Gallup poll showed that more people have “no trust” in the media than those who have a “great deal” or a “fair” amount of trust combined. It is up to the public to decide whether the mainstream media, which is supported by advertisers in the WFA, is a trustworthy source of news over free-speech platforms like X and Rumble.

GARM has now been disbanded, but Loerke said the WFA will fight the lawsuits and they expect to come out victorious in the end.