IN an open letter to advertisers, X CEO Linda Yaccarino has revealed a concerted effort to undermine the platform’s standing in the marketplace, highlighting illegal boycotts orchestrated by prominent organizations.
Yaccarino’s announcement comes amidst X’s continued growth and innovation, despite these adversities.
“Every day, hundreds of millions of people come to X to be part of the only global, real-time conversation,” said Yaccarino. “They come to share their thoughts and hear others. To share their content and see more. To debate and be debated. To entertain and be entertained. To inspire and be inspired. There is no substitute for X.”
Yaccarino, who joined X as CEO in June 2023 after a career in media and advertising, cited the power of the X community to foster global conversations as a primary reason for her excitement in taking on her role. However, recent findings by the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee have exposed significant challenges. The report, titled “GARM’s (Global Alliance for Responsible Media) Harm,” revealed evidence of an illegal boycott targeting X and other companies.
“The report disclosed that their investigation had found evidence of an illegal boycott against many companies, including X,” Yaccarino explained. “As their report found: ‘Evidence obtained by the Committee shows that GARM and its members directly organized boycotts and used other indirect tactics to target disfavored platforms, content creators, and news organizations in an effort to demonetize and, in effect, limit certain choices for consumers.'”
Well said by @LindayaX!
pic.twitter.com/8nbWkhl5R4— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2024
Yaccarino emphasized the detrimental impact of this boycott on X’s users, ranging from sports fans and gamers to journalists and political leaders. “To put it simply, people are hurt when the marketplace of ideas is undermined and some viewpoints are not funded over others as part of an illegal boycott. This behavior is a stain on a great industry, and cannot be allowed to continue.”
In response, X has filed an antitrust lawsuit against GARM, the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), and GARM members CVS Health, Mars, Orsted, and Unilever. “This is not a decision we took lightly, but it is a direct consequence of their actions. The illegal behavior of these organizations and their executives cost X billions of dollars,” Yaccarino stated.
Despite these challenges, Yaccarino highlighted X’s resilience and growth. “Since arriving at X, I made it my mission to continue to build a platform where people, brands, and advertisers can thrive in our unique, dynamic, and safe environment. And because of this commitment to our users, even despite the boycott, usage has reached all-time highs.”
Citing impressive statistics, Yaccarino noted, “Using a Twitter legacy metric, user active minutes, in August 2022, people spent 7.2 billion active minutes on the platform. Today, that number is more than 9 billion, a 25% increase. The same is true for video – even compared to last year, daily video views are up 45% to 8.2 billion. X is innovating and growing.”
Yaccarino reaffirmed X’s commitment to providing advertisers with effective tools and a safe platform, stating, “We have met and surpassed the requests made by advertisers and groups such as GARM for new tools, both to improve advertiser controls and the effectiveness of our products to drive increased value for our customers.”
However, she expressed disappointment that despite these efforts, many companies chose to ignore the facts and continue their boycott. “To those who broke the law, we say enough is enough. We are compelled to seek justice for the harm that has been done by these and potentially additional defendants, depending on what the legal process reveals.”
Elon Musk also commented on the situation via X, urging other companies to take legal action. “I strongly encourage any company who has been systematically boycotted by advertisers to file a lawsuit. Rumble confirmed it has joined to sue a cartel of advertisers and ad agencies who conspired to block ad revenue from going to certain platforms and content creators. GARM was a conspiracy to perpetrate an advertiser boycott of Rumble and others, and that’s illegal. There may also be criminal liability via the RICO Act,” Musk stated.
Yaccarino concluded her letter with a message of determination and gratitude. “We will continue to innovate and ensure X has a vibrant future while the courts hold accountable those who engaged in illegal behavior. To all of you who have been part of the transformative journey we are on, thank you. Rest assured, we will not stop defending our global town square.”