FTC Moves to Settle with Ad Companies Involved in Boycotting X
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is negotiating a possible settlement with major advertising companies to resolve a dispute that advertisers violated federal antitrust laws by coordinating boycotts against platforms like Elon Musk’s X, according to a report.
The FTC opened an investigation last year to determine whether the world’s largest advertising companies such as Publicis Groupe, WPP, Dentsu, Havas and Horizon Media, as well as numerous advocacy groups, engaged in anticompetitive behavior by withholding advertising funds from certain destinations.
A potential deal would prevent advertisers from diverting advertising funds from media platforms based on political content on those sites. Individual advertisers would still be allowed to avoid specific websites for their ads. The settlement would not involve an admission of guilt or wrongdoing by advertisers.
After Elon Musk acquired Twitter in late 2022, many major advertisers chose not to advertise on the platform, now X, citing concerns about Elon Musk’s preference to allow more free speech and less onerous content moderation policies.
X sued the trade group and many major companies, such as CVS Health, Colgate-Palmolive and Mars, claiming the group illegally boycotted A federal court dismissed X’s suit.
The potential settlement follows FTC Chairman Ferguson’s June 2025 announcement of a merger between two of the largest advertising giants, where advertisers agreed not to collude or discriminate on the basis of political or ideological views.
Ferguson explained that there had been a history of “collusion in the [advertising] The media buying services market and the increased potential for collusion after a merger make this a rare case where the imposition of a behavioral remedy is appropriate.
He explained:
Specifically, the proposed decision and order prohibits Omnicom and IPG from entering into or maintaining any agreement or practice that would divert advertising funds from publishers based on their political or ideological views. Certainly, coordinated action by ad agencies against politically disadvantaged publishers amounts to an agreement not to compete on quality – but getting such a ruling through litigation could take years. Today’s decision and order eliminate the risk of costly litigation while ensuring that Omnicom and IPG comply with antitrust laws following the merger. [Emphasis added]
In his June 2025 statement, the FTC chairman noted that the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), which he said Omnicom and IPG founded, once described the right to free speech as “an extreme global interpretation of the U.S. Constitution” and “‘principles of governance’…from 230 years ago (performed exclusively by white men).”
A 2024 House Judiciary Committee report found that GARM considered placing center-right media outlets such as Breitbart News, Daily Wire and Fox News on its advertising exclusion lists.
John Montgomery, then executive vice president of Global Brand Safety, wrote to GARM leader Rob Rakowitz:
There is an interesting parallel here with Breitbart. Before Breitbart crossed the line and started spreading egregious misinformation, we had long discussions about whether we should include them on our exclusion lists. Even though we hated their ideology and their bullshit, we couldn’t really justify blocking them for wrong opinions.. We watched them very carefully and it didn’t take long for them to cross the finish line. [Emphasis added]
Ferguson added that GARM aimed to “destroy publishers of content they disapprove of.”
