was obtained by the press from an email sent to its members.
The group is called the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, and it’s a nonprofit alliance of important advertisers, directed by the World Federation of Advertisers. It informed its personnel that would end its action two days following Elon Musk allegation of organizing a boycott against X.
Elon Musk’s advertising trial claimed that the GARM organization’s actions had violated antitrust policies by aligning with brands to discourage them from investing money in Elon Musk X.
Although the World Federation of Advertisers declined that GARM’s actions were not according to the laws, it claimed that the nonprofit organization didn’t have the economic funds to keep operating while it faced Elon Musk X in justice.
The chief executive of the World Federation of Advertisers, Stephan Loerke, said in an email addressed to the organization's members that, although he was “confident that the outcome will demonstrate our full adherence to competition rules in all our activities,” GARM would block its operations instantly.
On the other hand, the World Federation of Advertisers, which is also titled in the Elon Musk advertising case, will stay functional.
In the same email linked to the Elon Musk advertising lawsuit, Stephan Loerke wrote:“ This decision was not made lightly, but GARM is a not-for-profit organization, and its resources are limited”.
Contrarily, at Elon Musk X, the news that GARM would stop its operations was acclaimed. Linda Yaccariono, Elon Musk X chief executive, declared in a post: “This is an important acknowledgment and a necessary step in the right direction. I am hopeful that it means ecosystem-wide reform is coming.”
Elon Musk sues came after the $44 billion acquisition of X, formerly known as Twitter, in 2022. Elon Musk guaranteed a new age of free speech and canceled many of X's regulations against hateful posts and false information. As a response, many brands have withdrawn their ads from X, being afraid they would harm brands’ image by showing up near inappropriate content.
GARM organization was founded in 2019, after a mass shooting from Christchurch, New Zealand, was live-streamed on Facebook. After that moment, advertisers gathered and joined in the charitable to push social media platforms to embrace more rigorous content moderation policies.
Following Elon Musk’s acquisition, GARM suggested the brand’s advertisers interrupt their ads investment, and several big companies, including CVS and Unilever, complied. Those two businesses were also named in Elon Musk's advertising lawsuit.
Elon Musk sues have a tangled history. Last year, X sued Media Matters over a similar analysis. After that, a couple of employees of the advocacy group declared the legal stress led to layoffs. The trial in the Media Matters case is set for 2025.
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