Attorney General Ken Paxton Opens Investigation Into Possible Conspiracy by Advertising Companies to Boycott Certain Social Media Platforms

Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a civil investigative demand to the World Federation of Advertisers (“WFA”) as part of an ongoing investigation into a potential anticompetitive scheme to withhold advertising dollars from certain social media platforms. 

Attorney General Paxton is investigating a possible coordinated plan or conspiracy to withhold advertising dollars from certain social media platforms by pressuring advertisers not to purchase online advertising space. Although companies are free to choose when and where they want to advertise, a conspiracy among companies along these lines can result in harm to competition and may violate the Texas Free Enterprise and Antitrust Act of 1983. The civil investigative demand requests documents and information related to WFA and its sub-organization known as the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (“GARM”) organizing their membership to potentially boycott social media platforms that are deemed to violate their “Brand Safety Standards.” 

“It is completely unacceptable and un-American that the Department of Justice under the Biden Administration failed to enforce antitrust laws against its perceived political allies,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Trade organizations and companies cannot collude to block advertising revenue from entities they wish to undermine. 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 organizations they might disagree with.”