A left-leaning advertising group accused of conspiring to suppress conservative media reportedly disbanded on Thursday, just days after Elon Musk’s X filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the group.
The World Federation of Advertisers, which formed the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, informed its members that GARM would “cease operations,” according to an email seen by the news agency. Business Insider.
WFA CEO Steven Loerke said in an email that the decision to close GARM was “not made lightly,” pointing to the organization’s status as a nonprofit with limited resources.
GARM came under fire last month when the House Judiciary Committee accused the company’s extremist executive, Robert Rakowitz, of orchestrating a campaign to stifle free speech and restrict advertising to numerous news outlets and online platforms, including The Washington Post.
In a shocking lawsuit filed earlier this week, X accused GARM and the WFA of orchestrating an illegal advertising boycott, costing the social media platform “billions of dollars in advertising revenue.”
In addition to GARM and WFA, other major companies including CVS Health, Mars, Orsted and Unilever are named as defendants. X is seeking treble damages and an injunction.
According to the WFA’s website, members include dozens of the world’s largest companies, including Disney, Coca-Cola and Adidas, which collectively account for 90 percent of global marketing spending.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino said the GARM shutdown was “an important recognition and a necessary step in the right direction.”
“What is monetized should not be monopolized by a small group,” she added in a post on the social media site.
In an email, Rolke said WFA and GARM still intend to fight X’s lawsuit in Texas federal court and are confident the outcome will “demonstrate full compliance with competition rules in all our activities.”
Asked for comment, a WFA spokesman said the organisation would issue a statement on the decision “shortly”.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called GARM’s demise “great news for freedom, free markets, the First Amendment, everything good that makes America special.”
Jordan said the committee’s investigation is ongoing and remains focused on possible antitrust violations.
“We believe the World Federation of Advertisers has a similar bias,” Jordan said. “Our investigation is looking into all of this. It’s all about stopping censorship, whatever form it takes.”
As The Washington Post reported last week, the House Judiciary Committee sent letters to more than 40 companies asking them to provide information and preserve documents related to the investigation.
Companies that received the letter include Adidas, American Express, Bayer, BP, Carhartt, Chanel, CVS and General Motors.
Separately, at least two Republican state attorneys general are known to be reviewing the evidence uncovered in the House of Representatives and considering possible legal action.
Rakowitz’s actions have come under intense scrutiny in a House Judiciary Committee investigation.
One internal email obtained by committee investigators showed Rakowitz bragging that X had “missed revenue projections by 80%” because Garm had targeted Musk over brand safety issues.
Rakowitz later claimed the email was written as a “humble joke.”
GARM also allegedly demonstrated bias against the Daily Wire, Fox News, comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience,” and other media outlets accused of spreading disinformation.
According to the House Judiciary Committee report, GARM relied on tools such as the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a London-based group that in 2022 published an advertising blacklist of 10 news outlets with conservative- or libertarian-leaning opinion sections, including The Washington Post, RealClearPolitics and Reason magazine.
The House committee’s investigation focuses on whether GARM, WFA and their members violated Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which provides for unlawful restraint of trade.
GARM and the WFA have denied any wrongdoing, and spokesmen for the organisations have previously said the allegations of anti-competitive behaviour were “without merit”.
