• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, Yesterday

The industry organization World Federation of Advertisers and a group of advertisers sued by Elon Musk's X over an alleged ad boycott are urging a federal judge to transfer the lawsuit from Wichita Falls, Texas to New York City.

"This lawsuit has no material connection to the Northern District of Texas," the World Federation of Advertisers and seven of the advertisers sued by Musk write in papers filed Friday with U.S. District Court Judge Jane Boyle.

"The events underlying X’s allegations largely occurred in New York," they write, adding that the likely defense witnesses -- including EssenceMediacom, Mindshare Media and Universal McCann -- are based in or New York.

The motion comes in a lawsuit brought by Musk's X Corp. last August, when he alleged that the Belgian-based World Federation of Advertisers and its now defunct brand safety initiative, Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), sparked a “massive advertiser boycott” that cost the company billions in ad revenue.

Musk also sued advertisers, alleging that they schemed with GARM to deprive X of ad dollars. The current version of the complaint, which has been amended twice, names 10 advertisers -- energy companies Ørsted (based in Denmark) and Shell, food giants Mars, Nestle and Tyson, healthcare company CVS, pharmaceutical firm Abbott, toothpaste and personal care brand Colgate-Palmolive, toy maker Lego and social platform Pinterest.

The companies Ørsted, Shell and Tyson -- as well as international divisions of some of the defendants -- don't oppose transferring the lawsuit, but didn't join in the motion.

Musk sued three weeks 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.”

That report accused GARM of colluding to cut ad revenue to X after its October 2022 acquisition by Elon Musk.

The World Federation of Advertisers shuttered GARM in August, days after Musk sued. 

The trade organization has repeatedly said GARM's brand safety standards were voluntary, and that members were free to accept or reject those standards.

The World Federation of Advertisers and other defendants last month urged Boyle to dismiss the lawsuit before trial. That motion is currently pending before Boyle.

The new motion deals only with where the complaint should be litigated. The advertisers say New York is a more appropriate locale than Wichita Falls.

"All operative facts relating to GARM and the individual defendants’ decisions relating to social media advertising occurred outside of this district," they write.

They add that key likely witnesses are based in New York -- including Rob Rakowitz (a consultant for World Federation of Advertisers), Joe Barone (former managing partner for Brand Safety Americas at GroupM, now WPP Media), and EssenceMediacom (which worked with Mars), Mindshare Media (which worked with Abbott), Universal McCann (which worked with CVS).

The defendants also note motion also that other potential witnesses are based in Europe.

"Europe is much closer to New York and there are no direct flights between California and Wichita Falls," they write.

Additionally, they argue, likely witnesses from X -- including CEO Linda Yacarrino and former Twitter trust and safety head Yoel Roth -- are not based in the Northern District of Texas. X itself is now headquartered in Bastrop, Texas, but in the Western District of Texas, not the Northern District.

The World Federation of Advertisers and others alternatively say if the lawsuit remains in the Northern District of Texas, it should be transferred from the Wichita Falls division to Dallas, arguing that Dallas would be more convenient for the parties and witnesses.