‘This lawsuit seems misguided’: Has Musk made a mistake suing over alleged ‘boycott’?
X’s decision to sue the WFA for allegedly leading a “boycott” of the platform looks likely to deepen the gulf between the billionaire and brands.
Does X, formerly know as Twitter, have a chance of winning its lawsuit against the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) – and brands including Unilever and Mars – amid claims they conspired to “boycott” the social platform?
The basis of the lawsuit is a report from the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, published in July, which claimed GARM told its members to boycott advertising on Twitter following Musk’s purchase of the platform on 28 October 2022.
The report found that “the extent to which GARM has organised its trade association and coordinates actions that rob consumers of choices is likely illegal under the antitrust laws”.
According to head of advertising law and a partner at law firm Lewis Silkin, Brinsley Dresden, if a trade body were to tell its members to boycott a particular platform, or risk being expelled from the organisation, this would amount to an infringement of the law. However, he believes GARM’s counterargument will be that it provides tools to help members, rather than any form of enforcement.
