In a broad federal antitrust lawsuit against a left-leaning advertising cartel and many businesses suspected of coordinating an ad boycott, Elon Musk’s X revealed that it had achieved a deal with Unilever.
Following its declaration of “war” on sponsors who pulled out of X due to objectionable content on the website, the Elon Musk-owned business has agreed with one of those sponsors, the massive consumer goods major Unilever, which will now resume its partnership with X.
The left-wing Global Alliance for Responsible Media, a now-defunct nonprofit division of the influential World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), was accused in an August federal court case in Texas of engaging in unlawful collusion with Unilever and a number of corporate advertisers to boycott X on the grounds that it did not adhere to brand safety regulations.
X’s initial 44-page complaint (PDF) accused the advertising federation’s Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), which it rejoined in early July, of orchestrating a boycott of the company since Musk took over Twitter. GARM closed in August, citing a shortage of money.
According to a spokesman for X, the company’s lawsuit against Unilever has been “resolved,” and it is no longer a defendant.
The spokeswoman for Unilever, the company that owns Ben & Jerry’s, Dove, Hellman’s, and several other consumer goods companies, stated that the company wants to restart advertising for its brands on X.
“X is pleased to have reached an agreement with Unilever and to continue our partnership with them on the platform. Today’s news is the first part of the ecosystem-wide solution and we look forward to more resolution across the industry,” X tweeted on Friday.
We earlier reported that several British police departments are reducing their online presence on Elon Musk’s popular social media site, X, and one has completely stopped using it due to worries that it may be used to spread extremist viewpoints.