X Corp. this week sued Amazon's Twitch
for allegedly participating in a boycott aimed at depriving X, formerly Twitter, of ad revenue after its acquisition by Elon Musk.
“Twitch purchased no advertising from Twitter (or X) in
the United States, and only a de minimis amount outside the United States, after November 2022,” X alleges in an amended antitrust complaint filed Monday with a federal court in Wichita Falls,
Texas.
The new complaint comes more than two months after X sued the World Federation of Advertisers and its now defunct Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) for allegedly triggering a
“massive advertiser boycott” that cost the company billions in ad revenue.
The original suit also alleged that Danish energy company Ørsted, food companies Unilever and
Mars, and healthcare company CVS Health violated antitrust law by conspiring to deprive X of ad revenue.
advertisement
advertisement
The main difference between the original and amended complaints is that the newer
version also names Twitch as a defendant.
Last month, X withdrew its claim against Unilever. X said at the time that it
had reached an agreement with the food company.
The World Federation of Advertisers shut down GARM after X filed suit.
X's suit came soon after the Republican-led House
Judiciary Committee issued a report accusing GARM of coordinating action by corporations, ad agencies and other industry groups in order to “demonetize platforms, podcasts,
news outlets, and other content deemed disfavored by GARM and its members.”
The House staff report alleged that GARM colluded with others to cut ad revenue to X after Musk purchased it
in October 2022.
A spokesperson for the now-shuttered GARM said at the time that the organization "enhances transparency in previously opaque practices relative to ad placements in digital
social media."
“GARM creates voluntary industry standards on brand safety and suitability which media sellers and ad tech companies can voluntarily adopt, adapt or reject," the
spokesperson said in July.