Elon Musk Adds Twitch to GARM Lawsuit Over Alleged Advertiser Conspiracy to Boycott and Take Down X, Texas Opens Antitrust Investigation
Twitch, the Amazon-owned video streaming service, has been added to the list of companies and organizations being sued by Elon Musk over claims that they engaged in a conspiracy to cut off advertising dollars to deal significant damage to X, the social media website formerly known as Twitter, in the wake of Musk’s free speech initiatives at the platform. This comes as Twitch is under heavy scrutiny from advertising companies over statements made by high-profile content creators on their service, like Hasan Piker.
In July of this year, the House Judiciary Committee, helmed by Congressman Jim Jordan, published a scathing report on the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) that created it. The Judiciary Committee found that GARM, which was founded by WFA in 2019 as a means of “combatting misinformation” and what they described as “harmful content,” had a disproportionate amount of influence over the market and believed that as a coordinating arm of several multinational businesses, its organization flew directly in the face of antitrust regulations.
As part of its investigation, the Judiciary Committee was able to obtain documents and correspondence that showed direct coordination between members of the initiative colluding and conspiring to damage the social media website, then called Twitter, after Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company.
On August 6th, a few weeks after the publication of the report, Elon Musk filed suit against WFA, GARM, and several of its member companies. The streaming service Rumble also announced they were joining in on the lawsuit against GARM and the WFA on the same day. The WFA’s immediate response was to shutter the GARM initiative, claiming that the organization lacked the funding to continue to operate it during the lawsuit. Musk scoffed at the notion. In a response to a tweet by Ashley St. Clair, who asked, “What are they hiding?” Musk answered: “Damning discovery of documents.”
X Corp would announce a settlement with Unilever, one of the many companies named in the suit, in a post on the social media website in mid-October. “X is pleased to have reached an agreement with Unilever and to continue our partnership with them on the platform. Today’s news is the first part of the ecosystem-wide solution and we look forward to more resolution across the industry.”
With Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 United States Presidential election, Elon Musk was tapped by the President-elect to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In the following days, it was announced that several large companies would return to advertising on the social media website, although not quite at the same levels as before.
In an amended complaint filed on Monday, X Corp announced that it was adding Twitch Interactive, Inc. to the lawsuit. In the document, X Corp alleges that Twitch was a party to the antitrust activities because they implemented the GARM Brand Safety Standards within official company policy and, according to the complaint, received “Executive Endorsement” at the Amazon-owned company.
“Twitch manifested its assent to the agreement by and among GARM’s advertiser
members to adopt, implement, and enforce the Brand Safety Standards by publicly endorsing the GARM Brand Safety Standards and by communicating its consent to the GARM Brand Safety Standards to GARM. According to one GARM document communicated by GARM to its members, the GARM Brand Safety Standards have received “Executive Endorsement” at Twitch. Twitch has also implemented the GARM Brand Safety Standards in its own content policies. According to one Twitch document, “All content on Twitch must comply with Twitch’s policies, called Community Guidelines and Terms of Service. Community Guidelines follow best practices established by the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), and align to the GARM Brand Safety Content Floor.”
Asmongold would respond live on stream as the news broke of the lawsuit and say that he fully supports Elon Musk. “I actually completely support Elon Musk in this. I do. I totally support him.”
“Here’s what the problem is: companies are effectively acting like cartels, and what I mean by that is that companies are making decisions in a group, and because of that, they are exercising monopoly control over markets by functioning as a cartel, and by, I believe, breaking anti-trust laws.”
“I totally support him; I think that he should go as far as he possibly can because I don’t want to have my decisions — I don’t want to have my speech regulated by international companies that use slave labor. That’s basically it. Yeah, I don’t want to see that happen.”
READ: Twitch Head Of Policy, Outreach, And Education Says "America Is A Racist Country"
When Dexerto published an article about Asmongold’s comments, he followed up in response to their post on X. “Companies operating as a quasi-government in order to compel behavior should concern everyone. I know a lot of people hate Elon, but hopefully the greater evil of companies acting collectively as cartels is evident by now. Anti-trust laws exist for a reason.”
It was announced on Thursday that the State of Texas was opening up an investigation into WFA and GARM for potential state antitrust violations by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. On X, he wrote the following statement: “I have opened an investigation into a possible conspiracy by advertising companies to boycott certain social media platforms. It is completely unacceptable and un-American that the Department of Justice under the Biden Administration failed to enforce antitrust laws against its perceived political allies. Trade organizations and companies cannot collude to block advertising revenue from entities they wish to undermine.”
Some social media users expressed hope that the result of the lawsuit would see Twitch sold off to Elon Musk. Independent Vtuber Kirsche Verstahl, herself a Twitch streamer, mused on a potential Musk-Twitch buyout. “Man what if Elon buys Twitch. That would be hilarious. He gonna collect platforms like infinity stones.”
Twitch itself has been suffering under the leadership of CEO Dan Clancy. Numerous controversies have plagued the platform in 2024, including accusations of bias against Vtubers by selectively enforcing clothing standards with suspensions while allowing flesh and blood streamers to broadcast in questionable attire with no penalty. Most recently, advertisers have suspended ads on the website after accusations of Hasan Piker and other prominent political streamers promoting terrorism, violence, and hatred.
Twitch may have no choice but to settle with X Corp as Unilever did. Maybe a Musk-led Twitch could do for that platform what he has done for the platform formerly known as Twitter. Imagine a Twitch that actually enforced its rules fairly and without bias. Just let that sink in.
Do you think that Elon will win in court, or do you think Twitch, the WFA, and GARM will ultimately prevail? Become a paid member to support our journalism and leave a comment.
By Gator Gamer
Gator is an English language Vtuber and the host of the Anime Boomers Podcast with Cody Baier of Anime Outsiders, and Spooky Weebtrash. You can also find him on X as @TheGatorGamer.
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