• by Wendy Davis , Yesterday

Elon Musk's X told a federal judge this week that it anticipates naming additional defendants in its ad boycott lawsuit against the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and advertisers.

The platform, formerly Twitter, initially sued in August 2024, soon after the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee issued a report accusing the now-defunct Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) -- a former brand safety initiative of the WFA -- 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.”

X alleged in its complaint that between November 2022 and December 2022, at least 18 GARM-members stopped advertising on Twitter, and that “dozens” of other members “substantially reduced” their ad spending on the platform.

The Musk-owned platform said in papers filed late Monday with U.S. District Court Judge Jane Boyle in Wichita Falls that it "expects that further evidence obtained in discovery or through regulatory and other investigations will result in additional defendants."

The Federal Trade Commission is currently investigating ad boycotts that it says "may violate the antitrust laws." 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton separately is investigating whether the WFA and GARM organized a boycott of social media platforms that violated the ad organization's brand safety standards.

In addition to the WFA, X is currently suing 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.

X also named Unilever and Amazon's Twitch as defendants, but dismissed claims against both companies after reaching settlements with them.

X's new papers come in response to a motion seeking dismissal of the case filed in May by the WFA and advertisers. They argued to Boyle that the allegations in the complaint, even if proven true, wouldn't show there was a conspiracy to deprive X of ad revenue.

X counters in its new motion that the House Judiciary Committee's report provides "smoking gun" evidence of a conspiracy. According to that report, the Danish energy company Ørsted contacted GARM in November 2022 to inquire about a potential boycott of X.

The following April, an employee of Ørsted said in an email to the WFA and others, including GARM leader Rob Rakowitz: “Based on your recommendations, we have stopped all paid advertisement” on X, according to the committee report.

Rakowitz emailed a response denying that GARM or the WFA had recommended that Ørsted stop advertising, according to the report. Rakowitz also denied to the House committee that he had recommended that Ørsted stop advertising on Twitter.

The WFA 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.

In addition to arguing that the case should be dismissed, the WFA and other defendants have asked Boyle to transfer the matter to New York City, arguing that the dispute has "no material connection" to the Northern District of Texas, and that likely defense witnesses -- including EssenceMediacom, Mindshare and Universal McCann -- are based in New York.

X countered this week that it opened an Austin office in June 2023, and that since November 2024, its terms of service have provided that disputes will be litigated in the Northern District of Texas.

The WFA and other defendants are expected to respond to X's arguments by Sept. 26.