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Nestle SA, Shell PLC, Abbott Laboratories and a handful of other companies say they didn’t coordinate an advertising boycott of Elon Musk’s X following the billionaire’s purchase of the social media platform, refuting claims made in a lawsuit.
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Lawyers for the companies asked a federal judge in Texas to dismiss X’s suit that accuses them of taking part in an illegal boycott that allegedly cost the platform billions of dollars. They argue that they all reacted independently to changes implemented by Musk that allowed unchecked antisemitic content and other toxic commentary to proliferate on X.
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“X Corporation’s suit is an attempt to use the courthouse to win back the business X lost in the free market when it disrupted its own business and alienated many of its customers,” lawyers representing the companies said in a joint court filing Wednesday.
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X’s advertising business suffered following Musk’s US$44 billion takeover of the platform formerly known as Twitter three years ago and his decision to eliminate some rules and policies governing content in the name of promoting free speech. In August, X sued the World Federation of Advertisers over the mass exodus and later added several individual companies as defendants.
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Those companies include CVS Health Corp., Mars Inc., Lego A/S, Pinterest Inc., Orsted A/S, Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Tyson Foods Inc.
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Lawyers for the companies said that while some opted to pull their advertisements from the platform completely, others chose to scale back or simply pause ad spending. They also argued that none of these decisions violated antitrust laws.
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“Antitrust law does not require advertisers to keep doing business with a platform that degrades the quality of its service,” they said in the filing. “Neither does it presume an illegal conspiracy when advertisers make rational, independent business decisions.”
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Advertising on X is now making a comeback — in part because advertisers are reacting to Musk’s power in the White House as a key adviser to President Donald Trump.
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The social network is projected to report its first year of advertising revenue growth since Musk acquired it in 2022, according to a March report from research firm Emarketer. The report said X is projected to generate US$1.31 billion in United States advertising sales in 2025, an increase of 17.5 per cent.
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English (US)