Nestlé SA, Shell PLC, Abbott Laboratories and a handful of other companies said they did not coordinate Elon Musk X’s ad boycott after the billionaires purchased the social media platform, refuting claims filed in the lawsuit.
Attorneys for the companies asked a federal judge in Texas to dismiss X’s lawsuit, which accused them of participating in an illegal boycott that allegedly lost billions of dollars to the platform. They believe that they all responded independently to the changes that Musk implemented, which allowed unrestricted anti-Semitism and other toxic comments to spread on X.
“The lawsuit at X Corporation is an attempt to use a court building that won X losses in the free market when it undermines its own business and alienates many clients,” the attorney representing the companies said in a joint court filing Wednesday.
X’s advertising business suffered a $44 billion acquisition by Musk, the platform called Twitter three years ago and decided to eliminate some rules and policies about content in the name of promoting freedom of speech. In August, X sued the Global Federation of Advertisers in a massive Exodus, and later added several separate companies as defendants.
These companies include CVS Health Corp., Mars Inc., Lego A/S, Pinterest Inc., Orsted A/S, Colgate-Palmolive Co., and Tyson Foods Inc.
Attorneys for these companies said that while some choose to remove ads entirely from the platform, others choose to back down or just pause ad spending. They also believe that none of these decisions violate antitrust laws.
“Antitrust law does not require advertisers to continue to use platforms that reduce their service quality,” they said in the document. “When advertisers make rational, independent business decisions, it also does not assume illegal conspiracy.”
Advertisements on X are now making a comeback – in part because advertisers are key advisers to President Donald Trump, reacting to Musk’s power in the White House.
According to a March report by research firm Emarketer, the social network is expected to report the first year of its advertising revenue growth. The report said X is expected to generate $1.31 billion in U.S. advertising sales in 2025, up 17.5%.
The case is X v. World Advertisers Federation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas 7:24 cv-00114.
This article was generated from the Automation News Agency feed without the text being modified.
