X and World Federation of Advertisers settle GARM lawsuit

Elon Musk's social media platform X and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) announced a settlement on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, ending a nearly two-year legal battle over allegations of an advertiser boycott. The resolution marks a significant reset in the relationship between the platform and the global advertising trade body.

The dispute began in August 2024 when X Corp. filed an antitrust lawsuit against the WFA and several major brands, including Mars, CVS Health, Colgate-Palmolive, Shell, and Lego. The lawsuit alleged that these companies, acting through the WFA's Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), had illegally conspired to withhold billions of dollars in advertising spending from X. The platform claimed the coordinated boycott was a politically motivated effort to steer ad investment away from right-leaning media.

Advertisers and the WFA consistently rejected the allegations, arguing that brands independently decided where to spend their money based on their own brand safety preferences following Musk's $44 billion acquisition of the platform, then known as Twitter, in 2022. Companies expressed concern that their ads would appear alongside harmful content...