Twitter adds Twitch to lawsuit against alliance of companies that suspended advertising, claims lost advertising revenues amount to hundreds of billions of yen

In August 2024, X (formerly Twitter) filed a lawsuit against the World Federation of Advertisers and four of its member companies, alleging that major companies' simultaneous suspension of advertising on X constituted a violation of antitrust laws. Furthermore, on November 18, 2024, X amended the complaint to include the video distribution platform Twitch as a target of the lawsuit.

X v World Federation of Advertisers - amended complaint.pdf
(PDF file)

Musk's X adds Twitch as defendant in lawsuit over advertising 'boycott' | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/musks-x-adds-twitch-defendant-lawsuit-over-advertising-boycott-2024-11-19/

X adds Twitch to its advertising boycott lawsuit
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-adds-twitch-to-its-advertising-boycott-lawsuit-215540775.html

X has previously struggled with declining advertising revenue. In February 2023, it was reported that more than half of its major advertisers had stopped placing ads on the platform due to the chaos that followed when businessman Elon Musk acquired Twitter. In November 2023, advertisers concerned about accusations that their ads contained hate speech and pro-Nazi posts announced their withdrawal from X one after another.

Apple, Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, and others suspend advertising on Twitter following Elon Musk's anti-Semitic comments - GIGAZINE

By Daniel Oberhaus

X, on the other hand, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas alleging that the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), an initiative of the Global Federation of Advertisers, conspired to have its member companies stop or significantly reduce their purchases of Twitter ad inventory. In August 2024, X sued the Global Federation of Advertisers and its major member companies, household goods giant Unilever, major food company Mars, healthcare company CVS Health, and Danish power company Ørsted A/S. In October 2024, X revealed that it had 'reached an agreement' and dropped its claims against Unilever.

Elon Musk declares 'this is war' on the advertising industry in Twitter's lawsuit against the World Federation of Advertisers - GIGAZINE

by UK Government

X then amended the lawsuit on November 19, 2024, alleging that dozens of companies, including Twitch, conspired with GARM to stop advertising on X. According to X, the suspension of advertising by these companies resulted in the loss of billions of dollars in advertising revenue. In particular, it has been pointed out that Twitch has not advertised on X since Musk's acquisition of Twitter in November 2022.

X claims that 'these companies' collusion with GARM to suspend advertising is an illegal act that violates antitrust laws,' and is demanding a jury trial to resolve the issue.

At the time of writing, Twitch, its parent company Amazon, and X had not commented.