'Now it is war': Elon Musk and Twitter accuse an advertising alliance, which includes EA and Twitch, of conspiring against the platform and breaking US antitrust law

In an attempt to salvage the fortunes of Twitter, the company that continues to be Elon Musk's worst spontaneous purchase has sued an advertising alliance, the World Federation of Advertisers, as well as specific companies like Mars and Unilever, over a conspiracy to give the platform the cold shoulder. 

This follows a hearing over alleged collusion in the Global Alliance of Responsible Media—an initiative created by the WFA that counts companies like EA, Twitch and Tiktok as its members—in the US House of Representatives last month. 

In a <a data-analytics-id=«inline-link» href=«https://x.com/lindayaX/status/1820838625245880634?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet» target="_blank" data-url=«https://x.com/lindayaX/status/1820838625245880634?ref_src=» https: referrerpolicy=«no-referrer-when-downgrade» data-hl-processed=«none»>video

posted on Twitter, the company's CEO Linda Yaccarino said she was «shocked by the evidence uncovered by the House Judiciary Committee that a group of companies organised a systematic illegal boycott against X». The video has an eerily uncanny quality, full of exaggerated hand gestures and slow, deliberate speech that calls to mind someone trying to talk to a group of unruly children. «It is just wrong,» Yaccarino said while dramatically pointing her finger at the screen. 

Yaccarino used the video to announce the lawsuit against the WFA, GARM and four «key members» (CVS Health, Mars, Orsted and Unilever). The rest of the video paints the lawsuit as defending Twitter's users, including the audacious claim that this alleged conspiracy «puts your global town square, the one place you can express yourself freely and openly, at long term risk».

A Message to X Users pic.twitter.com/6bZOYPhWVaAugust 6, 2024

After Musk took over Twitter, he opened the floodgates and destroyed its moderation teams, turning the platform into a safe space for bigots and conspiracy theorists. In 2023, a Media Matters report revealed that Twitter had