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More advertisers to flee X after recent Elon Musk lawsuit and riot comments

Elon Musk’s antitrust lawsuit against brands that have boycotted X

-- and his controversial activity on the platform during the recent spate of UK riots

-- are set to exacerbate the long-held misgivings advertisers have with the site,
leading industry figures have said.

On Tuesday, Elon Musk’s X
– formerly Twitter –
filed a lawsuit against a marketing trade body and string of major advertisers
including Unilever and Mars
for an “illegal boycott” on the platform which
– the claim said
– violates antitrust legislation.

In a post from chief executive Linda Yaccarino,
the firm said it was suing brands like Unilever and Mars,
and the Global Alliance for Responsible Media,
a coalition of ad agencies and advertisers who commit to advertising in a way that
doesn’t fund “illegal or harmful content”.

But rather than scare brands into submission, bosses in the media industry told City A.M. that the move
– which was variously described as “ego-driven”, “cult-like” and “insane”
– is only likely to push already disillusioned brands further away from the ad spend-reliant site.

https://www.cityam.com/more-advertisers-to-flee-x-after-recent-elon-musk-lawsuit-and-riot-comments/