Twitter's titular CEO, Linda Yaccarino, posted a video on Twitter today announcing that her company had filed a lawsuit against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) for allegedly conspiring to boycott advertising on the platform.
In her gravely emotional video, Yaccarino lifted her hand and held it over her heart, proclaiming in an aggrieved tone, "I was shocked by the evidence uncovered by the House Judiciary Committee that a group of companies organized a systematic illegal boycott against X. It is just wrong, and that is why we are taking action."
GARM is a cross-industry initiative founded in 2019 after the Christchurch Mosque shootings, which was livestreamed on Facebook. It's stated mission is "to help the industry address the challenge of illegal or harmful content on digital media platforms and its monetization via advertising."
Wearing a necklace that said "Free Speech," Yaccarino said in the video, "They conspired to Boycott X, which threatens our ability to thrive in the future. That puts your global town square, the one place that you can express yourself freely and openly, at long-term risk."
Two questions:
1) Most importantly, did anyone else think of the Heaven's Gate initiation video when they saw this?
2) Is it a violation of the Constitution for an advertising member organization to decide that a privately owned social media platform is too vile and hateful to support? That's what Yaccarino seems to think.
A 42-year-old Supreme Court ruling doesn't think so. From the ACLU:
In NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co., the Supreme Court in 1982 unanimously upheld the First Amendment right of Black Mississippians to boycott local businesses in protest against segregation and racial inequality. The decision established that politically motivated consumer boycotts are fully protected by the Constitution. As a result, today, people of all political stripes can proudly exercise their right to boycott — from right-wing boycotts of companies that support Planned Parenthood to left-wing boycotts of companies that support the National Rifle Association.
But this time around, Musk and Yaccarino have a different Supreme Court to depend on — one that has been bribed by far-right benefactors with lavish gifts to see things their way.
Previously:
• Twitter's new CEO said to be NBC executive Linda Yaccarino
• Family Ties: Xitter's Yaccarino lets son in on the action
• WSJ charts show Twitter's steep decline in users and revenue
• Twitter ad numbers plummet! Visa bought just $10 in ads in last 12 weeks, according to report
• Major brands pull ads after they appear next to pro-Nazi content on Twitter
