Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) to determine whether its members orchestrated a coordinated boycott of certain social media platforms, potentially including Elon Musk’s X.
The investigation stems from allegations that WFA’s members, comprising major global brands like IBM, The Coca-Cola Company, and CVS Health, may have colluded to withhold advertising revenue from platforms they disagreed with.
“Trade organisations and companies cannot collude to block advertising revenue from entities they wish to undermine,” Paxton stated in a press release on Thursday. “Today’s document request is part of an ongoing investigation to hold WFA and its members accountable for any attempt to rig the system to harm organisations they might disagree with.”
The investigation coincides with X’s ongoing antitrust lawsuit against the WFA, filed in August 2024, which accuses the group of organising an “illegal boycott” that cost X billions in advertising revenue. Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform, several major advertisers, including Apple and Disney, have either reduced or ceased advertising on X, citing concerns about content moderation failures and brand safety issues.
Reports from the Centre for Countering Digital Hate and Media Matters in late 2023 alleged that X was failing to address illegal and hateful content, prompting an exodus of advertisers. The backlash intensified after Elon Musk made a controversial post that the White House described as “antisemitic and racist.”
At the centre of Paxton’s probe is the now-discontinued Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), a WFA-affiliated initiative that developed guidelines for addressing hate speech, misinformation, and brand safety. The investigation seeks to uncover whether GARM advised advertisers to blacklist platforms, including X, that were deemed noncompliant with its standards.
Paxton’s office has requested documents and communications from GARM to determine whether it influenced member companies to boycott certain platforms.
Elon Musk has repeatedly claimed that the advertising losses on X are not the result of individual company decisions but rather a coordinated effort to stifle the platform. “It’s still a major problem,” Musk commented in response to Paxton’s announcement on X.
The Texas investigation adds a new dimension to the broader battle between Musk’s X and the advertising industry. If Paxton uncovers evidence of collusion, it could have significant ramifications for both advertisers and trade organisations like the WFA, potentially reshaping how companies approach brand safety and content moderation policies in the future.
The WFA has yet to publicly comment on the investigation. Meanwhile, critics argue that both X and the Texas AG’s office may be attempting to distract from legitimate concerns about content moderation and hate speech on the platform.