On Tuesday, Elon Musk announced a lawsuit filed by his X Corps against a little-known advertising consortium dubbed GARM (short for the Global Alliance for Responsible Media). X claimed that GARM had conspired to shut off advertising revenue to its business, thus depriving it of “billions” of dollars. Now, some 48 hours later, it would appear that the besieged ad organization is halting its operations and disbanding.
The New York Times reports that GARM plans to “shut down,” citing an internal email from the non-profit organization that states it doesn’t have the financial resources to continue operations while also fighting X’s litigation effort. Business Insider originally reported on the email, which stated that the organization would be “discontinuing” its activities. GARM is an initiative established by the World Federation of Advertisers in 2019, following the Christchurch massacre .
It has publicly stated that its goal is to address “the challenge of illegal or harmful content on digital media platforms and its monetization via advertising.” Functionally, what this has meant is advising companies on sites that might prove problematic from a brand safety perspective. An investigation by the conservative-led House Judiciary Committee claims that the organization broke anti-trust laws in its efforts to “demonetize disfavored content in the name of brand safety,” and that it has specifically targeted conservative organizations.
Last year, Musk told .