Furious Former Twitter Advertisers Tell Elon Musk They've Had Enough of His Tantrums

Media Empire Fights Back

Elon Musk's social media company X-formerly-Twitter sued several major advertising brands last year, accusing them of conspiring to "collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising."

It's an easily debunked claim that flatly ignores the extremely hostile environment the mercurial CEO has created on the platform, with hate speech and disinformation running rampant.

Now, advertisers singled out by Musk are ready to hit back and are asking a judge to dismiss Musk's lawsuit. As Business Insider reports, the companies accused the richest man in the world in a joint motion of trying to "win back the business X lost in the free market when it disrupted its own business and alienated many of its customers."

Irresponsible Media

Advertisers started running for the hills after Musk took over the platform in late 2022, bringing with him a groundswell of hate speech, misinformation, and racist rhetoric. The exodus, which has continued for years, left a major hole in the company's financials that were already in freefall following Musk's acquisition.

Instead of acknowledging the sheer amount of damage he has done, Musk is accusing advertisers of colluding against him in the lawsuit, which he filed in August of last year.

The prolonged legal fight turned ugly when the Global Alliance of Responsible Media (GARM), a World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) initiative, dissolved after Musk filed the complaint.

The initiative was set up in 2019 to protect advertisers from exactly the kind of hurtful content that has flourished on X-formerly-Twitter, including child sex-abuse material, and displays of violence.

But now, GARM members and non-GARM members alike have joined forces to reject Musk's accusations of a conspiracy, pointing out that they each had individually determined X was far too toxic to advertise on.

The group also refuted the findings of a Republican-led investigation by the House Judiciary Committee that claimed its members colluded against the conservative-leaning media.

In their latest finding, the WFA pointed out that advertisers' decision to stay clear of Musk's toxic platform fell under their First Amendment rights.

"Antitrust law protects competition," the filing reads. "It does not protect X from competition."

More on Twitter: Grok AI Claims Elon Musk Told It to Go on Lunatic Rants About "White Genocide"

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