SOCIAL MEDIA

Widespread disbelief as Musk sues advertisers he claims boycotted X

By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2024

Maverick billionaire believes organisations unlawfully agreed to boycott his platform, thereby losing it billions of dollars in ad revenue.

The global advertising and marketing community, as well as the international media, has reacted with surprise and disbelief at a decision by Elon Musk to sue various organisations who failed to advertise on his X platform in 2022. 

 

His lawsuit, filed in the US state of Texas, relates to the period in 2022 not long after he bought the platform then known as Twitter. Advertising revenue tumbled because many advertisers were wary of being on Twitter, believing the new ownership was not serious enough about removing harmful online content and hate speech. 

 

Musk and his management team are suing FMCG giants Unilever and Mars, private healthcare company CVS Health, and renewable energy firm Orsted, as well as the World Federation of Advertisers.

 

Central to X’s legal claim is the allegation that the organisations unlawfully agreed to boycott Twitter, thereby losing it billions of dollars in ad revenue. 

Elon Musk. Photo: Prime Minister’s Office, Government of India

John McCarthy, Opinion Editor for the industry publication The Drum, says a “bewildered” advertising community has “responded with incredulity that a brand safety discussion would be blown up into a freedom of speech debate”. 

 

The Drum polled more than 100 marketers to get their initial reaction to the statement from X chief executive Linda Yaccarino claiming the groups systematically – and illegally – sought to boycott the platform as part of a broader effort to force X’s hand into suppressing right-leaning voices on the platform. 

 

‘A wall of ridicule’ from the industry 

 

“The industry’s response was a wall of ridicule, a consensus that the platform owned by a man who only last year told advertisers to ‘go *** yourself” had made its bed and now had to sleep in it,” McCarthy writes. 

 

“X’s growing irrelevance in the eyes of the world’s top marketers owed more to its own actions than a shadowy cabal of media execs, many argued.” 

 

Nils Pratley, Financial Editor of the London-based The Guardian newspaper, says “Elon Musk is being ridiculous. Companies are free to choose where to advertise”. 

 

Pratley states: “It is less than a year since Elon Musk told advertisers who were shunning his social media site, X, that they could take their business elsewhere permanently. In fact, he encouraged them to do so. 

 

“Come on, you’re running a profit-seeking business, like most of the rest of the media world. If you can’t make the revenues stack up, that’s your problem. If anyone is guilty of showing monopolistic tendencies here, it is X in believing it deserves to be protected from everyday commercial pressures.” 

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    Dr Kin Kariisa

    Group CEO - Next Media

    Dr. Kin Kariisa is an extraordinary force at the helm of Next Media Services, a conglomerate encompassing NBS TV, Nile Post, Sanyuka TV, Next Radio, Salam TV, Next Communication, Next Productions, and an array of other influential enterprises. His dynamic role as Chief Executive Officer exemplifies his unwavering commitment to shaping media, business, and community landscapes.
    With an esteemed academic journey, Dr. Kariisa’s accolades include an Honorary PhD in exemplary community service from the United Graduate College inTexas, an MBA from United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya, a Master’s degree in Computer Engineering from Huazong University in China, and a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from Makerere University.
    Dr. Kariisa pursued PhD research in Computer Security and Identity Management at Security of Systems Group, Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands. As a dynamic educator, he has shared his expertise as a lecturer of e-Government and Information Security at both Makerere University and Radboud University.

    Dr Kin did his PhD research in Computer Security and Identity Management at Security of Systems Group, Radbond University in Nigmegen, Netherlands. He previously served as a lecturer of e-Government and Information Security at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda and Radbond University in Netherlands.

    Dr Kin did his postgraduate courses in Strategic Business Management, Strategic Leadership Communication and Strategies for Leading Successful Change Initiatives at Harvard University, Boston USA.

    • Other current and previous roles played by Dr Kin Kariisa:
    • Lecturer of e-Government and Information Security to graduate students at Makerere University, Kampala and Radbond University in the Netherlands
    • Director of Eco Bank Uganda Limited, one of the largest banks in Africa
    • Chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters, an umbrella industry association for all Television, Radio and online broadcasters in Uganda.
    • Chairman of Board of Directors of Nile Hotel International, that owns the leading hotel in Uganda, Kampala Serena Hotel.
    • Chairman of Board of Directors of Soliton Telmec Uganda, the leading telecom company in Optic fibre business managing over 80% of optic fibre in Uganda.