THE CENTER SQUARE—Tesla founder and X owner Elon Musk said Thursday that he plans to file a lawsuit against people and organizations working to prevent advertising dollars from going to conservative news media.
Musk announced his intention on the social media giant X while sharing video of Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro’s congressional testimony Wednesday on the topic.
“Having seen the evidence unearthed today by Congress, X has no choice but to file suit against the perpetrators and collaborators in the advertising boycott racket,” Musk wrote. “Hopefully, some states will consider criminal prosecution.”
At Wednesday’s hearing before the House Judiciary Committee targeting a coalition called the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, Shapiro told lawmakers that legacy media and their political allies conspire with online advertising gatekeepers to paint conservative news organizations as “dangerous,” limiting their opportunity to receive advertising revenue.
“There is in fact an internal pressure system created by Democratic legislators, this White House, legacy media, advertisers, and pseudo-objective brand safety organizations,” Shapiro testified. “That system guarantees that advertising dollars flow only to left-leaning media brands.”
Shapiro identified the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, or GARM, as one of those gatekeepers of online advertising revenue.
“In reality, GARM acts as a cartel. Its members account for 90% of ad spending in the United States, almost a trillion dollars,” Shapiro testified. “In other words, if you’re not getting ad dollars from GARM members, it’s nearly impossible to run an ad-based business. And if you’re not following their preferred political narratives … you will not be deemed brand safe. Your business will be throttled.”
Originally published by The Center Square
