An advertising-industry coalition supposedly dedicated to safeguarding marketers from harmful content is halting work following a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s social-media platform X.
The initiative, called the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), was formed in 2019 by the World Federation of Advertisers, major marketers, social-media companies and ad agency groups to tackle hate speech, bullying and divisive fake content.
But X this week alleged companies including CVS Health, Mars and Unilever had conspired to withhold billions of dollars in a “massive advertising boycott” to force the platform to maintain certain safety standards, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in Texas’ northern district. The suit also named the World Federation of Advertisers.
Stephan Loerke, the chief executive of the World Federation of Advertisers, said Thursday that the organization would be “discontinuing all GARM activities with immediate effect,” in an email viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Loerke’s comments were reported earlier by Business Insider.
“We take this matter very seriously indeed and intend to rebut these allegations in court,” Loerke said in the email, adding that the decision to shut down activities “was not made lightly but GARM is a not-for-profit organization, and its resources are limited.”
The shutdown represents a victory for Musk, who has been aggressive about fighting back against critics in public statements as well as in courts. Last year, X filed two other lawsuits against groups that have criticized Musk’s handling of content moderation on the site, accusing them of acting illegally in how they prepared reports about content on X.
X’s chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, hailed the shutdown at GARM.
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