economy
Musk went to “war,” sought jail time for X ad boycotts—but case ends with a whimper
Elon Musk has settled his lawsuit with advertisers that he once claimed should be criminally prosecuted for refusing to advertise on his social media platform, X.
TL;DR
- X (formerly Twitter) has settled a lawsuit with advertisers who had boycotted the platform.
- The lawsuit was filed by Elon Musk after brands refused to advertise on X, leading to a substantial revenue decrease.
- Musk had previously suggested advertisers who boycotted X should be prosecuted.
- The Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), an initiative Musk targeted, will remain inactive as part of the settlement.
- Both X and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) have issued a joint statement declaring the litigation behind them.
- The settlement aims to reset the relationship between X and advertisers, focusing on brand-safety innovation and freedom of speech.
- A previous court ruling had stated the ad boycott was legal, and X's antitrust claims lacked proof of consumer harm.
- The settlement comes as Musk launches X Money, a new payment product intended to reduce X's reliance on advertising revenue.