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In an email to members, WFA CEO Stephan Loerke said the WFA will remain fully operational, and had every intention of fighting X\u2019s lawsuit in court, according to Business Insider<\/em><\/a> and the New York Times<\/em>, who obtained the email.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis decision was not made lightly, but GARM is a not-for-profit organization, and its resources are limited,\u201d Loerke wrote, according to BI<\/em>.<\/p>\n The WFA did not immediately respond to Fortune\u2019s<\/em> request for comment.<\/p>\n GARM was founded in 2019 after a mass shooting in a Christchurch mosque was live-streamed on Facebook<\/a>. The group intended to influence social-media content moderation policies by making sure member advertisers avoided hate speech and misinformation and steering them toward platforms considered ethical.\u00a0<\/p>\n X filed the lawsuit<\/a>\u00a0earlier this week, citing GARM, the WFA, and member companies CVS Health<\/a>, Mars, Unilever<\/a> and Orsted<\/a> as defendants. The suit\u2019s claims stem from an investigation into GARM by the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n After Musk bought X (then Twitter) in 2022<\/a>, GARM \u201csignaled\u201d to its members to pull their advertising from Twitter, according to the House committee report<\/a>. In a survey of its members conducted around the time of Musk\u2019s takeover of the company, GARM found that over 80% of ad buyers felt the change in Twitter\u2019s ownership was a serious issue, and more than 70% of advertisers \u201c[felt] that change in ownership will have a negative or very negative impact on Twitter.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis type of information, coming with the imprimatur of GARM, would give advertisers the confidence to pull advertising campaigns without losing out to their competitors,\u201d the House report stated.<\/p>\n Twitter\u2019s ad revenue plummeted as 18 GARM members stopped advertising on the platform, and dozens of others cut their spending, according to the lawsuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe tried being nice for 2 years and got nothing but empty words,\u201d Musk wrote on X after the suit was filed. \u201cNow, it is war.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n We tried being nice for 2 years and got nothing but empty words. <\/p>\n Now, it is war. https:\/\/t.co\/MEzH0vqz0p<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Immediately following the news that GARM would shutter, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and X CEO Linda Yaccarino rushed to claim victory in what they described as a win for free speech.\u00a0<\/p>\n #BREAKING<\/a>: The \u201cGlobal Alliance for Responsible Media\u201d is discontinuing. <\/p>\n Big win for the First Amendment. <\/p>\n Big win for oversight.<\/p>\n \u2014 House Judiciary GOP \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@JudiciaryGOP) August 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cNo small group should be able to monopolize what gets monetized,\u201d X CEO Linda Yaccarino wrote in a post following the announcement. \u201cThis is an important acknowledgment and a necessary step in the right direction. I am hopeful that it means ecosystem-wide reform is coming.\u201d<\/p>\n No small group should be able to monopolize what gets monetized. This is an important acknowledgement and a necessary step in the right direction. I am hopeful that it means ecosystem-wide reform is coming. https:\/\/t.co\/BlHqHqZEyp<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) August 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The WFA is a global network of the biggest advertising brands and agencies, representing over 90% of the global marketing and communications spending in the world, according to the group\u2019s website. X\u2019s lawsuit claims GARM violated antitrust laws by colluding with brands to monopolize advertising revenue and \u201ccollectively withhold billions of dollars [from X.]\u201d<\/p>\n On its own, though, GARM is a small organization, and the standards it sets for its members are voluntary. It has just two full-time staffers, and retained outside counsel to respond to the Judiciary Committee\u2019s investigation requests. At a hearing before the committee in June, the organization\u2019s director, Rob Rakowitz, told lawmakers the investigation had consumed a considerable amount of his time and impacted his ability to effectively do his job.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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