Elon Musk's X removes Unilever from advertiser boycott lawsuit
Elon Musk's social media platform, X, has dropped its lawsuit against consumer goods giant Unilever. The lawsuit was filed over an alleged conspiracy between Unilever and an advertising industry group. The conspiracy allegedly sought to boycott X, leading to a major revenue loss for the platform. The withdrawal was filed in a federal court in Wichita Falls, Texas.
X and Unilever reach an agreement
Unilever, the London-based company behind Dove soaps and Hellmann's condiments, confirmed that it had "reached an agreement with X." The social media platform has promised to maintain Unilever's responsibility standards for brand safety and performance on its platform. However, the exact terms of this settlement have not been disclosed by either party involved.
X continues legal battle against other defendants
Despite reaching an agreement with Unilever, X has said that it plans to continue pursuing antitrust claims against other defendants named in the lawsuit. These include candy manufacturer Mars, CVS Health, and Danish renewable energy firm Orsted. The World Federation of Advertisers is also implicated in the suit for allegedly conspiring to withhold "billions of dollars in advertising revenue" from X.
Ad revenue challenges and content concerns on X
After Musk took over X in October 2022, the platform saw a long slump in ad revenues. Some advertisers were worried about linking their brands with X due to the risk of harmful content. This includes racist or false posts that could have been removed under the previous management. The ad group had launched an initiative in 2019, to tackle such issues related to illegal or harmful content on digital media platforms and its monetization through advertising.
