Ad group sued by Elon Musk’s X for reportedly ‘discontinued’

The World Federation of Broadcasters (WFA) has reportedly shut down its non-profit arm, the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), after being hit with an anti-trust lawsuit from the news platform. of Elon Musk’s community, X.

X, formerly Twitter, filed a lawsuit against WFA, GARM and GARM members CVS Health, Mars, Orsted and Unilever on Tuesday, accusing the defendants of defrauding the companies and platforms. certain, including X, from advertising.

Social media platform Rumble joined X to sue the WFA, which created the GARM consortium to serve member publishers, saying the group abused brand safety standards to deny a certain platform.

According to a new report from Business Insider, WFA CEO Stephan Loerke informed members in an email Thursday that the group is “ceasing” GARM activities. The release said Loerke wrote the decision “was not made lightly,” but explained that GARM is a nonprofit with limited resources.

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However, Loerke said that the WFA and GARM plan to fight the X case in court, and the advertising groups hope that the outcome of the case will “show full adherence to competition rules in all our activities ,” Business Insider reported.

FOX Business has reached out to WFA and GARM for comment on the report.

X filed the lawsuit after reviewing a recent investigation by the House Judiciary Committee that found evidence “GARM and its members have directly organized boycotts and used other indirect tactics targeting unapproved platforms, content creators and news organizations in an effort to cut costs and reduce certain options for consumers.”

X CEO Linda Yaccarino says the company has realized that GARM tactics have cost the social media platform billions of dollars.

In response to the House Judiciary Committee report that GARM would be discontinued, Yaccarino wrote in X, “No small group should be able to control who gets the money. This is an important recognition and a necessary step by the right way. I’m hoping that means a wider environmental change.”

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GARM claims to be “apolitical” and “volunteer” and says it benefits its members by providing access to “tools and information on best practices to learn where their advertising investment is going.” go there, and avoid being placed near illegal or harmful content that could damage their brands’ reputation.”

However, critics of GARM have a different opinion about this organization and suggest that it has collaborated with many large US organizations to push fraud and fraud. suppress speech in a way that focuses on people who need care.

GARM is said to have worked with large companies to implement advertising penalties to Musk, Joe Rogan, Spotify, political polls and news outlets, including Fox News, The Daily Wire and Breitbart News.

WFA spokesman Will Gilroy told Fox News Digital earlier this week “the recent allegations made by the US House Judiciary Committee against GARM for anti-competitive behavior are baseless.”

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“Recent engagement with industry leaders suggests that GARM’s work remains relevant and important as digital media continues to grow,” he said. “Therefore, GARM will continue to fulfill its commitment to help its members drive more responsible marketing practices.”

Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller and FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.