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Musk’s genius business model: coerce your clients!
The CEO of X files lawsuit against advertisers after telling them not to advertise
A shorter version of this article was published as the intro to my Discomfort Zone newsletter.
Brand safety is the reason that GARM (Global Alliance for Responsible Media) existed. GARM was an advertising industry body run by the WFA (World Federation of Advertisers), an organization whose membership includes over 140 of the world’s top brands and national advertiser associations in more than 60 markets.
Why am I using the past tense? Because last Friday the WFA decided to shutter GARM after it was sued by X/Twitter for unlawful conspiracy after advising its members to leave the platform.
Platforms such as X, Facebook, and YouTube have always strenuously insisted that they are not publishers like TV channels or newspapers because they don’t control the content they house, much like how phone companies are not responsible for the conversations that travel over their wires and waves. This stance was codified in Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act of 1996 and has been used by internet companies ever since to protect them from lawsuits whenever malicious, false, or illegal content…
