Elon Musk’s social media X has moved to sue Mars and Unilever PLC (LSE:ULVR) and other businesses over a widespread withdrawal of adverts from the site after he took charge.
Accusing the former advertisers of an “illegal boycott,” X chief executive Linda Yaccarino said an antitrust lawsuit had been filed against the firms on Tuesday.
Several advertisers fled after Musk bought the company, formerly known as Twitter, in 2022, over fears of a rise in harmful content on the site.
This prompted X’s advertising revenue to plummet, with Yaccarino claiming the move deprived the company of “billions of dollars” in an open letter.
Responding to the letter, Musk said in an X post: “We tried peace for 2 years, now it is war.”
We tried peace for 2 years, now it is war https://t.co/elgT62uDtF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2024
The World Federation of Advertisers, CVS Health and energy firm Orsted were also named in the lawsuit.
X accused the organisations of acting against their own self-interests in a conspiracy against the site, in breach of US antitrust laws.
Unspecified damages are being sought alongside a court order banning attempts to conspire to withhold advertising spending.
Commentators have said such a case is unlikely to succeed though, including former Department of Justice antitrust assistant attorney general Bill Baer.
He said: “As a general rule, a politically motivated boycott is not an antitrust violation. It is protected speech under our First Amendment.”