Three major ad agencies settled an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday that alleged violations of antitrust law for refusing to advertise on websites that prominently feature misinformation and politically extremist content. Under the settlement, the ad agencies have agreed not to “set common brand safety standards or restrict advertising” based on what the FTC calls “biased and politically motivated criteria.”
It’s a win for conservative websites like Breitbart and the far-right owner of X, Elon Musk. The billionaire has essentially argued that it’s illegal for large consumer brands to not give money to his social media platform under the novel legal theory known as “because I said so.”
The FTC alleged that the ad agencies, WPP, Publicis, and Dentsu, had “unlawfully colluded” by setting up brand safety standards. From the perspective of advertising agencies, the idea is to make sure that major brands wouldn’t find their advertising sitting next to things like misinformation, child sexual abuse material, Nazi propaganda videos, or other types of extremist content. Companies that sell stuff like cereal and toothpaste generally don’t want their brands associated with lies and unpleasant things.
Musk helped kick off the supposed controversy back in 2023 when major brands were leaving the platform formerly known as Twitter. The billionaire bought the site back in late 2022 and made dramatic changes that allowed misinformation and extremism to flourish, reinstating previously banned accounts like Nick Fuentes and Alex Jones.
But it wasn’t just the people that Musk was inviting back onto the platform who were a potential threat to brand safety. The CEO himself was spreading extremist ideas, including a notoriously antisemitic tweet in late 2023. After getting blowback for that comment, Musk infamously told advertisers to “go fuck yourself.” Musk also reinstated a right-wing creator who posted CSAM, an action that a Twitter executive defended when asked about it in the summer of 2023.
The settlement announced Wednesday by the FTC was joined by eight Republican-led states: Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia. The complaint argued that “classifying disfavored opinions as ‘misinformation'” was a form of censorship if these brands refused to buy ads based on their concerns. That’s obviously absurd, but the Trump regime is doing everything it can to make avoidance of MAGA ideas a crime.
Andrew Ferguson tried to characterize the settlement as a righteous win in his announcement on Wednesday, though the ad agencies admit to no wrongdoing.
“The ad agencies’ brand-safety conspiracy turned competition in the market for ad-buying services on its head,” FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said in a statement posted online.
“The antitrust laws guarantee participation in a market free from conduct, such as economic boycotts, that distort the fundamental competitive pressures that promote lower prices, higher quality products and increased innovation.”
Last month, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by X that alleged the World Federation of Advertisers trade group had violated antitrust laws, so today’s settlement is a bit of a consolation prize for Musk.
It’s unclear how many major advertisers have returned to X since Musk bought the platform, but the CEO sometimes tries to highlight major brands in an effort to make his platform look less pathetic.
“Burger King advertising on X,” Musk wrote Wednesday without any further commentary.
Burger King advertising on 𝕏 https://t.co/WKqsbe2xMZ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 15, 2026
Thanks for the heads up, Elon.
